India: 9 killed as bus driver goes on rampage

The streets of Pune witnessed a horror on the Wednesday morning when an angry bus driver went berserk crushing several cars and driving his vehicle over pedestrians killing at least 9 and injuring 27 others.The Pune Police while confirming the ghastly incident, said that the driver, who was in a dangerous mood for some unknown reasons, also rammed at least 25 vehicles.The man went berserk. He went on ramming the vehicles plying on the road, he was in a dangerous mood. He killed 9 people and injured 27, Meeran Borwankar, Commissioner, Pune Police, said.We are approaching the hospitals to find out if there are more injured and dead. Most injured are being treated at Sasoon, Sahyadri, Harjeevan hospitals, she added.The incident happened shortly before 8 am when the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) driver Santosh Mane suddenly climbed into a Pune-Satara-Pune bus and zoomed off onto the road outside the Swargate ST Depot, driving at a high speed on the wrong side of the road, taking the oncoming vehicles and people unawares.From there, he sped off for nearly 25 km, ramming stationary or moving vehicles on the route and crushing or knocking off pedestrians before he was nabbed by a police party at Dandekar Flyover, a police official said.Fire brigade and local residents helped police to bring the vehicle under control and rush the victims to nearby hospitals.The driver 30-year-old Santosh Mane was arrested after an hour-long chase near Neelayam theatre in the city. Though initial reports said the bus driver was mentally disturbed, police said it was too early to comment.Satpal Singh, ADG (Law and Order), said, Nine persons are dead and 27 have been injured in the accident. He was hitting everything that was coming in his way, he said.The Swargate bus terminus officials said they were investigating the incident involving the bus, which was scheduled to leave for Satara.Pune mayor Mohansingh Rajpal, who visited the spot, asked angry citizens to maintain peace.