Matorajamani Sitaram, a 40-year-old account assistant from Breach Candy Hospital, and Ojas Mehta, a 14-year-old student of Dhirubhai Ambani International School, became fatalities of a head-on collision between two cars on the Bandra-Worli sea link on Tuesday. This was the first mishap of this magnitude on the 4.7-km long bridge since its inauguration in June this year.
The accident took place at around 8.20am, when an allegedly over-speeding Skoda Fabia — which was taking Ojas to his school in Bandra — crashed into a WagonR taxi, which was heading to Worli with Sitaram as a passenger on the back seat.
The mishap took place on the sharp curve a few metres after the toll plaza (which is at the Bandra end of the sea link).
According to the police, Brijesh Singh, 33, said he was trying to get Ojas to school in time for his exams when the car lost control and went crashing through the makeshift dividers, straight into the oncoming WagonR cab.
The Skoda was being driven at such speed that it turned turtle on hitting the taxi, and crashed into it again, the second time from behind. Sitaram, the police said, crashed out through the windshield because of the impact. The driver of the Skoda was later booked for causing the death of a person due to reckless driving, the police said.
The traffic police claimed they were the first to get to the spot and arrange for the victims to be sent to hospitals.
However, they could not throw any light on whether Ojas was sitting on the front passenger or back seat, and if Singh and Ojas were wearing seat belts.
Ojas was admitted to Lilavati Hospital in Bandra by people in passing cars who stopped to help. The 14-year-old, however, died in the evening in the ICU.
“Sitaram was rushed to Bhabha Hospital by the passers-by where he was declared dead on arrival. He is survived by his wife and a 10-year-old son,” said assistant police inspector AR Mulani of Bandra police station.
The taxi driver, Rajkumar Sharma, 32, survived with a fractured arm. He recounted the incident saying, “Around 7.45am, I picked up a passenger from JB Nagar, Andheri, to go to Breach Candy Hospital. When I reached a few hundred metres beyond Bandra toll naka on the sea link, I saw the Skoda speeding towards us. Before I could react he rammed into us.”
He added: “I became unconscious almost instantaneously. When I regained consciousness, I saw the boy in the Skoda bleeding and people rushing towards him.”
S Singh, senior executive (personnel and human relations department) of Breach Candy Hospital, said, “Sitaram had been working here for almost more than 19. He was a very nice human being and very good at his work. Nobody had any complaint against him about his work…we will miss him.”
The first accident was reported in July last week when a Maruti Swift collided with a Honda city but no casualties were reported.
Fatalities
Ojas Mehta, 14: Son of Kishore Mehta, owner of Novelty Cinema near Grant Road, Ojas (pictured left) was a Std IX student of the Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Bandra Kurla Complex. The Mehtas are residents of Triveni Apartments at Walkeshwar.
Matorajamani Sitaram, 40: He was in the back seat of the WagonR taxi, and died on the spot. An employee of Breach Candy hospital for 19 years, Sitaram is survived by his wife and a 10-year-old son.
Both drivers survived
Brijesh Singh, 33, of the Skoda Fabia: He has been booked for rash and negligent driving. Apparently, he was speeding because he wanted to take Ojas to school in time for an exam. He allegedly lost control of the car and crashed head-on with the WagonR cab.
Rajkumar Sharma, 32, of the WagonR taxi: A resident of Marol, Andheri (E), he picked up Sitaram from JB Nagar, Andheri. “I bought my taxi in October and now it is badly damaged. I don’t have money to repair it,” he said.
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