Mumbai: Driver trying to escape minor hit on Bandra-Worli sea link kills 3

Three members of a family lost their lives and four others were critically injured when their car collided with six vehicles on the Bandra Worli Sea Link BWSL on Thursday night The driver of the Innova car identified as Sarfaraz Khan accidentally hit a Mercedes car on the BWSL just 100 metres away from the toll booth Instead of stopping Shaikh attempted to flee the scene and collided with an additional six parked vehicles at the sea linkrsquos toll plazaThe deceased have been identified as Mohammed Hanif Adam Phir 64 his wife Hawa Bibi Hanif Phir and his motherinlaw Khatijabibi Hatia 91 The family residents of Diva village in Ankleshwar Gujarat had come to Mumbai for a darshan at Haji Ali and Mahim Dargah as per their family membersCops and locals help rescue the injuredThe Bandra police have filed an FIR against Sarfaraz Shaikh 40 charging him with rash driving causing death and injuring others ldquoA total of seven family members travelled from Gujarat to Mumbai for darshan at Haji Ali and Mahim Dargah They arrived in Mumbai two days ago in an Innova car The driver Sarfaraz is a relative of the victimsrdquo said a relative of the victimsHerersquos how the incident unfoldedldquoThey left from Mumbai Central around 950 pm and reached the Bandra Worli Sea Link They entered the sea link from Worli and when they approached the toll booth the driver accidentally collided with a Mercedes car just before the toll booth In an attempt to escape the driver decided to speed away As he reached the toll booth he first hit a taxi then a tempo and finally crashed into another vehicle after jumping the dividerrdquo said a police officerHanif Adam his wife and his motherinlaw died on the spot while the other family members sustained serious injuries and were admitted to the hospital The injured individuals have been identified as Hashim Suleman Sadar Hajra Samad Sadar Bibi Yakub Sadar Sarfaraz Mohhamad Yusuf Shaikh Rajshri Dave and Rakesh Vishwakarma Sarfaraz the driver of the Innova car was also injured in the accidentCar dented from behindSenior Inspector Sanjay Marathe of Bandra police station stated ldquoWe have registered an FIR against the car driver Sarfraz Shaikh for rash driving negligence while driving causing death to three people and injuring six others in this incident The injured victims are currently receiving treatment at the hospital Our investigation revealed that the car driver initially hit the Mercedes car and out of fear of getting caught he tried to escape resulting in multiple vehicle collisionsrdquoFamilies reach hospitalThe families of the three individuals were rushed to Cooper Hospitalrsquos postmortem centre on Friday morning as their loved ones were declared brought dead at Bhabha hospital on Thursday night The driver of the Innova is receiving treatment at Bhabha hospital while two have been admitted to Lilavati hospitalOne of the deceased 66yearold Hanif Adam ldquoHe hails from Gujaratrdquo said his nephew Sufiyan the only relative looking after his unclersquos body at the postmortem centre ldquoHis immediate family is in Canada they have been informedrdquo he said Their remains will be taken back to Gujarat once the authorities release the bodyInnova car next to a taxi that it had hitRakesh Vishwakarma 55 the driver of one of the cars involved in the accident and his employer Rajeshri Dave are undergoing treatment at Lilavati hospital Rakeshrsquos nephew Niraj Vishwakarma said that doctors have informed the family about Rakeshrsquos serious leg injuries requiring surgery ldquoHis employers are currently covering the expenses The doctors have assured us that everything else is fine with himrdquo Niraj saidLilavati hospitalrsquos Dr V Ravishankar told midday that the woman is on a ventilator and has sustained multiple fractures including in her upper and lower limbs ldquoHer blood pressure and heart rate are normal and we will be operating on her tomorrowrdquo he said adding that the driver has sustained a fracture in the long bone of his legThe Sadar family has taken a discharge against medical advice on Friday evening to seek further treatment in Surat ldquoThey were on intermittent oxygen and under observation We tried a lot to convince them to not take a discharge but they kept insisting that they do not have any relatives in Mumbai and want to head for Surat We arranged for a cardiac ambulance for themrdquo said a doctor from Bhabha hospital