A motorcyclist died in an accident after being hit by a private bus on Taratala Road on Friday afternoon.
Police said Bitan Debnath, 28, fell on the road after the bus hit his two-wheeler. Before he could get up, the bus ran over him.
In another fatal crash, on Nimtala Ghat Street in north Kolkata, a pedestrian was hit by a speeding motorcycle on Thursday evening. The bike fled after the accident.
The police said the fatal squad of the traffic department has taken over the investigation into both road crashes, which were reported within a gap of 24 hours between Thursday and Friday.
On Wednesday night, an 18-month-old baby travelling in a scooter on his mother’s lap, who was riding pillion, fell on the road and came under the wheels of a trailer in Alipore.
The trailer had allegedly hit the two-wheeler, causing it to lose balance.
The police said that in Debnath’s case, too, the bus had
hit the motorbike, because of which the youth fell on the road.
“Bitan Debnath, a resident of Becharam Chatterjee Road in Behala, was wearing a helmet when his motorcycle was hit by a luxury bus on Taratala Road. Before he could react, he came under the rear wheels of the bus,” said an officer of Kolkata police’s traffic department.
He was taken to SSKM Hospital, where he was declared dead.
The police have seized the bus and arrested the driver.
The other fatal accident happened on Thursday evening on Nimtala Ghat Street. Mayadhar Barik, 49, a resident of the area, was hit by a motorcycle that allegedly did not stop after the crash and left Barik bleeding on the spot.
Barik was taken to the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital with multiple injuries.
He died a few hours later, the police said.
An officer said they have started a case of causing death due to negligence against the motorcyclist, whose identity could not be established till Friday evening.
According to police records, pedestrians are most vulnerable to road accidents and fall prey to speeding vehicles.
After pedestrians, two-wheeler-riders account for the maximum number of casualties from road accidents in Kolkata.
In 2022, as many as 185 people had lost their lives in road accidents in Kolkata.
Of the 185 victims, 78 were pedestrians, 43 were two-wheeler-riders and another 14 were pillion-riders.
In that year, 1,080 persons had been grievously injured, of whom, 392 were pedestrians, 310 were two-wheeler riders and 64 were pillion-riders.