Mumbai:
A 17-year-old boy mowed down a 55-year-old woman and rammed into six others - all women and children - after his bike dashed into the shanties lining the Wadala bridge.
The human pile-up occurred at around 8.30 pm on Wednesday, when Rizwan Qureshi, an Antop Hill resident, was heading to Matunga on his Pulsar bike. Eyewitnesses said he was trying to pull off a wheelie - a stunt in which the bike's front wheel is raised off the ground - and the reckless manoeuver robbed him of control.
At first, the bike ran over the elderly woman walking by side of Wadala bridge, killing her. Thrown off course by the impact, Qureshi's two-wheeler went reeling into the shanties - on its way knocking down two playing children and a mother-son duo inside a dwelling -- and came out, crashing into two other women working outside.
(Also read: Why Mumbai cops are unable to put brakes on stunt bikers)Three of the six injured are boys between the ages of 3 and 9. Two of them were playing outside their hutments when they were hit. While Himesh Waghela (3) and Ganesh Bharat (7) have suffered serious head injuries, Rahul Khavadya (9) managed to escape with a fracture. Two of the three injured women are recuperating at KEM Hospital.
Qureshi, was booked under sections 279 (rash driving), 304A and 338 of the IPC after an FIR was filed in Matunga police station. He was produced in court on Thursday and sent to the Dongri remand home for juveniles.
Rupa Dhariya (22), was cooking right outside her shanty when the bike slammed into her. While she managed to escape with blunt trauma to her head and back, she is in a state of shock. "I didn't even realise when the biker lost control and slammed into those three kids," said Rupa.
Another woman, Manisha Waghela, mother of three-year-old Himesh who is also in ICU, escaped with flesh wounds and was sent after treatment at the out-patient department.
Said Suresh, father of nine-year-old victim Rahul, "My son was the luckiest among the three as he managed to escape with a fractured leg."
Woman injured, mother dead, child criticalAn injured Reeta Bharat, who lost her mother Vrudha Shanta Waghela in the crash, said from her hospital bed, "I had given birth to a baby girl barely 10 days ago and was in my sister's shanty when the bike hit me and my son, Ganesh. Luckily for us, my daughter was asleep in our shanty which is right next to my sister's and was saved."
Vrudha was rushed to KEM and declared dead on arrival. Reeta is unaware of her mother's death, and thinks her son, who is in ICU, is recuperating in the general ward.
"The bike hit both of us when he was drinking milk," said Reeta, nursing a broken leg.
Children critical: HospitalActing dean of KEM Hospital, Dr Shubhangi Parkar, said, "Seven patients were brought to the hospital out of which one woman was treated on an OPD basis as she had sustained minor injuries.
"The two children Ganesh and Himesh are in the ICU, sustained grievous head injuries and their condition is critical as of now. Rahul suffered a leg fracture and thankfully his condition is stable."