A 70-year-old man died after a private school bus hit him on VIP Road while the vehicle was taking a U-turn on Tuesday evening.
According to police, Makhan Halder, owner of a shop that sells papads at the Baguiati market, was crossing the road to get to his shop when the bus hit him.
The bus that was on the airport-bound flank of the VIP Road had stopped at the Narayantala signal. The vehicle again started to move only after the signal for vehicles intending to take a U-turn blinked green, an officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate’s traffic wing said.
There were schoolchildren on board but none of them was injured in the accident, the officer added.
The officer quoting eyewitnesses as well as traffic personnel on duty at the signal said that Halder had darted across the Ultadanga-bound flank of the VIP Road and found himself right in front of the bus that was taking the U-turn.
“The bus driver applied the brakes but Halder got clipped by the fender of the bus after which he fell down and the front wheel went over his head,” said the officer.
Halder was rushed to a healthcare facility off VIP Road where he was declared dead.
A section of pedestrians as well as cyclists cross the VIP Road — one of the main arteries that connect the airport with the rest of the city — at will and most don’t even bother to check whether the signal for pedestrians to cross has turned green.
At several places along the VIP Road, including Baguiati, bottlenecks have formed as hawkers park their vans to sell wares on the road and many often set up stalls taking up a large portion of the carriageway.
Biker killed in accident
Karaya: A truck mowed down a man riding a bike on Circus Avenue in south Kolkata early on Tuesday, police said.
The accident happened around 2.45am. Ishtiyar Kaiser, 33, was taken to SSKM hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries around 7.30am, the police said.
The truck had fled the spot after the accident. The offending vehicle could not be identified till late on Tuesday evening, the police said.