BEST bus crash: 20-year-old left for 1st day at new job, never to return

PTI, Dec 10, 2024, 1:59 PM IST

When 20-year-old Afreen Shah left home to start her first day of a new job on Monday, little did her father know that it would be the last time he would see her alive.

Afreen was one of the seven persons mowed down by a BEST bus that rammed into pedestrians and vehicles on the SG Barve Road in Kurla (West) on Monday night.

Abdul Salim Shah last spoke to his daughter when she was struggling to get an autorickshaw to return home after her first day at a new job with a private company.

Shah advised Afreen to walk towards the highway to get an autorickshaw. It was the last time he spoke to his daughter.

“It was her first day at work at a new company. After work, she reached Kurla railway station, from where she called me at 9.09 pm saying she was not getting an autorickshaw for Shivaji Nagar,” he said.

“I told her to walk towards the highway and get an autorickshaw. But, at 9.54 pm, I got a call from my daughter’s phone, and it was a staffer from Bhabha Hospital,” Shah said.

He rushed to the hospital and found Afreen’s body in the casualty ward.

“It was her first day at work, and now I will never get my daughter back,” the distraught father said.

Shah said the government should take some steps to prevent such accidents.

“People in the area are unable to walk on the road. The situation has not changed for so many years. The place is congested because of illegal parking, hawking, metro rail work and other illegal activities. People are unable to walk, and many have lost their dear ones. The government should take strict action on these issues,” he said.

Seven persons died, and 42 sustained injuries and were rushed to various hospitals after being injured in the bus accident. The police have arrested the bus driver and booked him for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.