BEST bus accident: Driver was not drunk, didn't have illness, say police

Medical tests of the driver involved in the Kurla BEST bus accident, which claimed eight lives, have indicated he did not have any mental disorder and was not drunk at the time of the incident, police said on Wednesday.

The electric bus, hired on a wet-lease basis by the civic-run Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking and driven by Sanjay More, ploughed into a crowd in Mumbai's Kurla area on December 9.

The accident claimed eight lives and left more than 40 persons injured. Several vehicles were also damaged in the incident.

More (54) is in police custody for alleged reckless driving and booked on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

Before the commencement of the case trial, the driver's psychological test was recently conducted at a civic hospital in Sion to confirm if he had any mental illness, a Kurla police official said.

The test report confirmed his mental condition was normal and he had no mental disorder and he was not suffering from any brain-related disease, the official said.

Also, More's blood test report revealed he was not driving under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident, he said.

Earlier, More claimed the bus brake failure led to the accident, but police have received a report from the regional transport office (RTO), stating the vehicle was working fine and there was no brake or any other technical failure, the official said.

BEST administration has claimed More received three days' training before he was allowed to drive the electric bus.

RTO officials suspect human error and lack of proper training for driving automatic transmission buses could be the reason behind the accident, among the most horrific involving BEST buses in recent history.