8 injured as RTC bus loses control

Eight persons, including two on a bike, sustained injuries after an APSRTC bus rammed them near Rathifile Bus Station in Secunderabad on Wednesday.

After a halt at the bus station, the Medchal-bound bus had begun moving towards Alpha Hotel when the driver lost control.

“The bus suddenly moved forwards and hit a bike in the front,” Gopalapuram Sub Inspector M.C. Kotaiah said.

Even as the panicked driver struggled to halt the bus, it went on ramming pedestrians on the bustling Ganesh temple road.

“It stopped only when the bike came under one of its front wheels. Otherwise, it would have moved further ahead and injured more persons,” an onlooker told the police.

While the driver claimed the brakes of the bus had failed and that he had to apply the hand brake to stop the vehicle, police said they were yet to get the bus inspected by the Motor Vehicle Inspector.

A pedestrian, Nagabhushan, suffered a fracture on his left leg. A criminal case under IPC Sections 337 (causing hurt endangering life) and 279 (rash driving on public way) was registered. The injured were taken to Sweekar Hospital.

‘No brake failure’

The APSRTC have ruled out the possibility of brake failure, pointing out that the bus was equipped with a hand brake too.

“It is a high traffic zone and the bus was travelling at very low speed. The driver might have lost control after a motorcyclist suddenly took a sharp turn in front of the bus. In a bid to avoid hitting him, the driver took a left turn and hit the pedestrians,” said RTC Greater Hyderabad zone Executive Director A. Koteswara Rao.

The APSRTC would initiate action against the driver after an enquiry report that would also record the statements of the injured, Mr. Rao said.