Mother and son knocked down by college bus

BENGALURU: A routine walk to school ended in tragedy for a mother and her young son in Vivek Nagar on Monday early hours. Eight-year-old Partha and his 37-year-old mother, Sangeetha, were killed after they were knocked down by a college bus near the Vivek Nagar bus stop on Srinivagilu Main Road. According to police, the accident occurred between 6.45 am and 6.50 am when Sangeetha was taking her son to school on foot. The bus, bearing registration number KA-51-AL-7920 and belonging to Jain (Deemed-to-be) University’s Global Campus in Kanakapura, hit the duo while they were crossing the road. Both sustained severe injuries and died on the spot. Ashok Nagar traffic police rushed to the scene soon after receiving an alert. The bus driver abandoned the vehicle and fled. Police suspect he may have panicked, fearing an attack from angry residents who gathered at the spot. Efforts are on to trace and apprehend him. A senior police officer said the bus was ferrying lecturers/teachers at the time of the accident. “The driver was taking a U-turn and failed to notice the mother and son crossing the road,” the officer said. An eyewitness, Teressa, who lives in a makeshift shed on the footpath, told TOI that she saw the mother and son crossing the road when the bus hit them. Both sustained severe injuries and died on the spot. The bus driver fled before people could gather at the scene. She added that the mother used to take her son to school every day at almost the same time. The bodies were shifted to Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital for post-mortem. Police later removed the bus from the spot to ease traffic congestion, even as residents mourned the sudden loss of a mother and her child.