Two pre-university students were killed on the spot when a BMTC bus ran over them on Mysuru Road on Tuesday morning. The accident, attributed to brake failure, sparked anger at the condition of older Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses. The police are investigating the cause of the accident.
Around 8 a.m., Kasturba College students Chandrakanth and Yudu Kumar S.Y. were among over 15 people waiting at the bus stand near Gopalan Mall when the bus came directly at them. While the others got out of the path of the oncoming vehicle, the two 15-year-old boys were run over by the bus, and died on the way to Victoria Hospital.
Hundreds of college students gathered at the Victoria Hospital mortuary demanding justice. Traffic was stalled at K.R. Market due to the impromptu protest.
Dedicated students
The information gathered by the police about the boys paints a picture of dedication and a resolve to pursue education despite adverse financial conditions.
Chandrakanth, a native of Kalaburagi, was working part-time as house-keeping staff at a mall after college hours to support his education. His mother is a domestic help. He is the only son in the family, the police said.
Yudu Kumar distributed newspapers in the morning to support his education.
Mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun and other officials met protesting students at Victoria Hospital and announced a compensation of ₹10 lakh to the families of both the deceased. The BMTC announced ₹2 lakh as compensation.
Driver complained of chest pain after the accident
While the police and BMTC employees believe that the accident may have been caused by brake failure, perhaps due to a lack of maintenance, the company said a preliminary examination ruled out the possibility.
Officials said the driver Lokesh, who has had an accident-free record over his eight years at the transport corporation, had indicated that he fainted moments before the accident due to low blood pressure. However, Lokesh had not flagged any health issues with senior officers prior to the accident, said an official.
Byatarayanapura traffic police detained Lokesh who claimed to have lost control of the vehicle as the brakes were not working. Lokesh was admitted to a hospital after he complained of chest pain soon after the accident. The police are waiting for him to recover to arrest him.
They are waiting for a report from technical experts to ascertain the cause of the accident.
The bus (route number 223D connects K.R. Market and Ramsandra) had travelled 4 lakh kilometres, which is ‘relatively young’ in the corporation’s ageing fleet where 11 lakh kilometres is the cut-off to replace buses.
BMTC employees said issues with the brakes of the bus were flagged to the BMTC nearly a week ago.
BMTC Managing Director N.V. Prasad said the issues had been fixed at the depot. “A preliminary enquiry showed that the bus had stopped at a bus stand just 100 metres before the accident, which indicates that the brakes were working at that point of time. But, this is only a preliminary inquiry. We will investigate to prevent such accidents in the future,” he said.
