BEST bus runs over Class 6 student crossing Bandra road

Mumbai: Mohammed Arbaaz Shakil Ansari, a 12-year-old Class 6 student, was killed by a speeding BEST bus in Bandra (East) on Tuesday morning.
The tragedy took place shortly after Ansari left Cardinal Gracias High School in Govt Colony and was walking home to Valmiki Nagar with his friends around 10am. Kherwadi police said the bus struck Ansari from the right side as he was crossing the road with his school friends.
The BEST bus driver, Vijay Bagal (45), has been arrested and booked under BNS sections 106 (causing death by negligence) and 281 (rash driving)."Bagal and the bus were brought to the police station after the incident. The onboard passengers had been made to alight after the incident," said a police officer.
Ansari's father was informed about the incident by a person who found the child's contact number on his school identity card.
The accident took place near the Govt Colony ground close to the Kherwadi police station. The BEST bus (0599) was on its way from Bandra Depot at Bandra Reclamation to Tata Colony (Bandra) when the accident occurred.
After realising that the student had been hit, the bus driver applied the brakes and stepped out of the vehicle to find the seriously injured child. "The bus conductor immediately rushed Ansari in an autorickshaw to VN Desai Hospital. Ansari was declared dead while undergoing treatment at 12.15pm. Locals and passersby who had witnessed the accident said the deceased and his school friends were crossing the road when the speeding BEST bus hit him from the right side and ran over his waist," said a police officer.
Police recorded a statement of the child's father, Shakil Ahmed Ansari (42), who works as a tailor in a garment shop. Shakil told the police, "I was at my workplace when I received a call from a person to inform me about the accident. The person had got hold of my number from my son's school ID card."
Shakil's cousin told TOI that the tragedy occurred just 2km away from the child's residence.
The bus driver will be produced before the Bandra court on Wednesday. A senior BEST official said the bus conductor tried his best to save the child and took him to a hospital after the mishap. "But unfortunately, the crash victim was declared dead at the hospital," he said, adding an inquiry is being conducted against the driver regarding the incident.