Bus mows down siblings; another hits biker

NEW DELHI While one cluster bus killed two children and injured their grandfather on the Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, another hit a scooter and critically injured the rider on Wednesday.
Police said that the drivers of both the buses fled from the scene of the accidents. Local residents staged a protest and blocked the road till late in the night demanding that the recklessness of bus drivers be reined in.
In the afternoon, 55-year-old Bhagwan Paswan was crossing the road near the Saket Metro station with his grandchildren, Rishika (5) and Sailesh (7), when a cluster bus — plying on route 717 and going from Badarpur towards Malviya Nagar — mowed into them while trying to overtake a car from the right side.
The children were hurled many metres away, while eyewitnesses said Paswan was stuck under the chassis of the bus and dragged for a fair distance. He kept shouting to the driver to stop the vehicle before it finally halted near the DC’s office. The driver got off the bus and fled from the spot almost immediately, fighting off the people who tried to hold him back.
According to the residents of the area, the children landed on their heads. Some passengers got off the bus and rushed the kids to a local hospital, where Rishika was declared dead on arrival. The hospital asked for Sailesh to be taken to AIIMS, but he died on the way. Paswan hit his head against the road divider and is recovering in a private hospital.
The children’s father, Jitender Paswan, when informed, reached the accident site with his wife Chanda. Jitender works as a daily wager and stays in Saidullajaib village nearby. The family had come to Delhi from Munger in Bihar around two decades ago.
Police have registered a case of rash and negligent driving and causing death due to negligence against the bus driver and have sought his details from the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transport System Ltd. The bus has been impounded by the Saket police station.
A few hours earlier, a cluster bus had knocked down a scooterist on the same road near Sheikh Sarai, throwing the rider against the road divider.
The youth, who is yet to be identified, sustained severe head injuries and was rushed to a government hospital where he is being treated.
A case of rash and negligent driving has been registered against the bus driver, who disappeared from the spot after the accident.