Bengaluru: 2 killed as BMTC bus with failed brakes rams eight vehicles

BENGALURU: After its brakes failed, a BMTC bus ploughed through eight vehicles, killing two men and injuring three others before ramming a Metro barricade and coming to a halt near Kottigepalya, Magadi Road, west Bengaluru, on Monday morning.
The bus dragged a car, an autorickshaw and six other vehicles for 200 metres down an inclined stretch. Bus driver Venkatesh, arrested and booked for causing death due to negligence and rash driving, said he had informed his depot manager that its brakes were weak and had to be fixed a fortnight earlier.
One of the two-wheelers which was hit by the BMTC bus on Monday.
The bus, plying on route 245-M, was going from Vaddarahalli to Majestic when the accident occurred around 9.30am. Venkatesh averted a bigger tragedy by avoiding ramming a congregation of 500 devotees in front of Mutturayaswami temple waiting for darshan on the occasion of Vaikunta Ekadashi.
Ramakant U, who was on the bus, said, “The driver told the conductor that the brakes were not working and effectively cut the speed of the vehicle. If he had swerved left, he would have hit the devotees. He took a sharp right turn. Since the bus could not climb up a heap of mud on the margins of the road, it began knocking down other vehicles on the road.”
Venkatesh succeeded in his second attempt to make the climb and ram the barricades before stopping the bus.
Bus driver brought faulty brake to manager’s notice 15 days ago
The driver of the BMTC bus (KA 57-F-696), which mowed down two bikers on Magadi Road on Monday morning, told police that his depot manager forced him to take out the vehicle though its brake was weak and could fail any time.
“The brake was weak and I had been complaining about it for 15 days. But my manager never heard my pleas and I was forced to drive the same vehicle,” Venkatesh told police.
Joint commissioner of police (traffic) BR Ravikanthe Gowda said probe will be carried out by a police officer of the rank of assistant commissioner of police. “We have recorded Venkatesh’s statement about the depot manager’s callousness. We will do the investigation and book the manager, if he is found to be guilty,” he added.
A road user said the bus suddenly began moving in a zig-zag manner while going down an inclined stretch. “It was a terrifying sight. After ramming the vehicles, it halted near the barricade. First, we dragged the mangled car and autorickshaw to the side, thinking there could someone inside. Luckily, the drivers of these vehicles were thrown out due to the impact of the collision. Then we found two bikers lying on the road. One had died instantly, while the other was gasping for breath. He died while being stretchered into the ambulance,” the eyewitness, who helped clear the vehicles and shift the injured to hospital, said.
The deceased are M Bylappa, 43, of Magadi Road and Vishwaradhya, 48, of Sunkadakatte. While Bylappa worked as an assistant at the General Post Office, Vishwaradhya worked as a teacher with a private high school near Byadarahalli.
Cabbie Nagaraj, 34, and private company employees Abhishek, 23, and Harshit, 28, suffered injures and were rushed to a nearby hospital. The injured are stable and undergoing treatment.
“The driver claims to have written in the logbook about the faulty brake. But there are possibilities of the logbook being tampered by the mechanical staff. A thorough investigation will reveal the exact cause. Often mechanical staff cite low availability of spare parts as an excuse. Senior depot officials should be made accountable for these accidents,” a senior BMTC official said.
BMTC sources say they have a logbook, where bus crew reports defects in buses, including brake, radiator and electrical parts at the end of the duty. The mechanical department staff is responsible for attending to such complaints before the next trip.
BMTC managing director C Shikha said they have formed a special team to investigate the case. “We are looking at various angles and the real cause of the accident. We are yet to question the driver as he is still in police custody.”
Chaos on Magadi Road
The mishap on busy Magadi Road threw peak-hour traffic into disarray. With policemen in the area deployed for Vaikunta Ekadashi duty at temples, there was none to clear the traffic pile-up. The snarl lasted for over an hour.
2 officials suspended
The vehicle was operated by driver Venkatesh and conductor Neelamma Hiremath. An inquiry into the accident is pending and depot manager Shivalingaiah and assistant work superintendent Madhusudhan have been suspended. An ex-gratia amount of Rs 25,000 will be given to the next of kin of the two dead men. BMTC will bear the cost of treatment of those injured.