Cop says Mehta's seat belt was unbuckled; roof had smashed into the boy's head
Cop says Mehta's seat belt was unbuckled; roof had smashed into the boy's head
On June 30, 2009, the Bandra Worli Sea Link (BWSL) opened to a gawking and proud city, a historic moment nine years in the making.
Six months on, yesterday the bridge crossed another historic milestone its first car pile-up, killing two.
The accident, which occurred at 8.20 am, had no eye witnesses, except for two CCTV cameras.
However, since one of the cars hit the pole on which the cameras were on and damaged them, it may well be impossible to retrieve data. 
The pole supporting the cameras fell into the sea. Bandra police station senior inspector Prakash George said, "Had the cameras not been damaged, we would have been able to got a clear picture of the accident."
He added that they would still try to retrieve the data.
Of the four occupants in the two cars, two are alive, but the accused, his statement needs to be corroborated by more than one witness.
The Incident
At 8.20 am, Ojas Mehta (14) was being driven in a Skoda Fabia (MH-04-DQ-6300) to the Dhirubhai Ambani School in Bandra Kurla Complex by his driver.
The driver is believed to have been driving at 100 kmph, 40 kmph over the speed limit.
He lost control, hit the divider and dashed into Wagon R taxiu00a0 (MH-02-BQ-6378), turned turtle and lay precariously perched on the girders. Even if there were eyewitnesses, they did not wait for the police, who arrived a short while later.
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The roof of the car had caved in and smashed into the boy's head."
"The Skoda hit the plastic dividers and then rammed into the Wagon R, turned turtle twice before hitting the girders and the camera pole, but luckily the car came to a sudden halt, stopping just short of falling into the sea," said George.
Maphur Rajamani Sitaram (40), the passenger in the taxi and Ojas, who was in the Skoda, died of severe injuries last evening at Lilavati Hospital. Ojas was a resident of Walkeshwar.
The police had booked a case of rash and negligent driving section 304 A against the driver of the Skoda, Brijesh Kumar Singh (33).
u00a0
"Preliminary inquiries have revealed that the driver was speeding and it is believed that he had crossed the 100 km[h mark," said a police officer.
The driver Rajkumar Sharma (32) has fractured his right hand. Sitaram was heading towards Breach Candy from his uncle's place at Andheri. He is survived by his son studying in Std VI and his wife, a schoolteacher in Dombivli.
Sitaram's colleague Roger Rodrigues said, "On Tuesday, he left early as he had a meeting with the hospital management.
u00a0
As he hadn't reached in time, I called his number at 8.45 am, which was answered by a stranger, who informed me of the accident. I reached the spot and was told he was dead."
Luckily for Sharma, the seat belt saved his life. Bhawar Jain, his maternal uncle, said, "Ojas usually takes the car to school.
We don't know how the accident took place, but I feel if the driver is injured while Ojas had such serious injuries, he may not have buckled his seat belt.
He was a bright child and has an elder brother in the US."u00a0 The school students, parents and administration were present in the hospital. Kishore Mehta, Ojas's father, was inconsolable outside the ICCU.
George added that the police would also check why the air bags of the Skoda did not open up on impact. He clarified that the driver's air bag did not open up.
A Skoda official said, "Unless our engineers inspect the damaged car and we receive the police report, commenting on the issue at this stage would be unfair."
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Vehicles are expected to travel on the bridge daily.
| 'Human Error' |
|
A senior MSRDC official told MiD DAY that the accident was a clear case of human error. Not the first Accident Section 304A Did You Know? |
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