Elderly Man Killed, Ten Injured After BEST Bus Slams Into Road Divider in Mankhurd

On Monday morning, around 8:30 a.m., a BEST bus that was plying the Kurla (East)‑Airoli route hurtled into a roadside divider opposite Vishwakarma Hospital, near the Mankhurd bridge on the Sion‑Panvel highway.

According to the driver, the vehicle’s brakes failed just as it approached the divider, sending the bus smashing into the concrete parapet. The impact was severe enough to crush a nearby pedestrian, 62‑year‑old Bhaskar Raosaheb Kagde, who later succumbed to his injuries at Rajawadi Hospital.

The bus itself was part of the civic‑run Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) fleet, but it was being operated by wet‑lease company Mateshwari. Both the driver, 51‑year‑old Banvari Shriram Prasad Sharma, and the conductor, 41‑year‑old Vaibhav Waghmare, sustained injuries and were taken to Rajawadi Hospital for treatment.

Eight passengers also suffered varying degrees of injuries. They were rushed to Shatabdi Hospital, where doctors attended to their wounds. Among the injured were commuters who had boarded the bus just minutes before the crash.

This incident marks the third notable accident involving a BEST bus in recent weeks. Only days earlier, a BEST bus collided with fourteen vehicles in Andheri, injuring eight people, while another electric BEST bus struck pedestrians and vehicles in Bhandup on July 8.

City officials have reiterated the need for stringent safety checks, especially for buses operating under wet‑lease agreements, and promised a thorough investigation into the brake‑failure claim.