Kolkata: BCom student crushed between racing buses – Times of India

KOLKATA: Reckless driving by a bus trying to overtake another from the left at a bus stop snuffed out the life of a final-year BCom student near Bijon Setu on Monday morning. Abinash Shaw (21), a resident of Banku Bihari Chatterjee Road, was about to board a bus when he got crushed by another one illegally overtaking it from the left.
Locals said it was around 11am on Monday when the accident took place. The victim, Abinash Shaw (20), had exited BB Chatterjee Road and crossed the Rashbehari connector to board a EM Bypass-bound bus to reach Ruby.
When a bus on route 18B/1 slowed down in the middle of the road and the conductor signalled Abinash to hop on, he stepped on the road and moved towards the bus. But before he could board it, he was crushed between the two buses.
Witnesses said there were no apparent injury marks on his body. The youth just dropped dead on the road. He was taken to a hospital off EM Bypass, where he was declared dead. Sources in the hospital said the manner in which he was crushed between the two vehicles, it led to internal injuries.
“Doctors said his lungs had ruptured and he also suffered brain injuries. He was a very responsible boy. He died because of reckless driving on part of unruly bus drivers,” said Kartick Shaw, his uncle.
According to locals, bus drivers are prone to rash driving on the stretch. At bus stops, the driver of the leading bus tends to stop the vehicle in the middle of the road to prevent the one behind from overtaking and picking up passengers in the stops ahead. Unfortunately, the driver of the bus Abinash was attempting to board had misjudged the gap between it and the left kerb. The space was just enough for the bus behind to squeeze in but left no space for Abinash.
“Prima facie, it looks like the accident happened due to the laxity on the part of the bus driver as he had slowed the bus in the middle of the road to pick a passenger. The youth, too, was at fault since he tried to hop on board but couldn’t enter in time,” said a senior officer.
The driver of the bus, which Abinash was trying to board, was arrested.