Mumbai: 8-year-old boy fractures leg after being hit by school van

An eight-year-old boy sustained a severe leg fracture when a van hit him and his friends at Kandivli on Tuesday evening. Police said that the driver of the vehicle, who was ferrying 12 students of Dhanamal Vidyalaya High School, left them in the van as he was in a hurry to rush the boy to a nearby hospital.

The driver, identified as Rajesh Bhatt (35), owns and drives a school van that is unauthorised. Bhatt, who was dropping the students home from school, also did not have a lady attendant in the van, which is compulsory for every school van and bus.

The students of Dhanamal Vidyalaya High School, whom the driver was dropping home, were left in the van when he rushed the boy to a hospital

The boy has been identified as Aakash, a resident of Ganesh Nagar in Kandivli West. Aakash was with a few friends when the van rammed into them, fracturing his leg. Police said the incident took place on Tuesday at 6.40 pm at Mathurdas Road.

Bhatt was driving rashly and hit the boy and his friends. He immediately took him with his friends' help to the nearby Paras Hospital, where Aakash has been hospitalised. Eyewitnesses said the Kandivli police reached the spot after half an hour and took the students in their custody and later informed their parents.

A local, Manish Bhadreshwara informed the police about the incident. He told mid-day, "Around 12 boys and girls were crying in the van after the incident. For around 15 minutes nobody helped them."

"The students were terrified and were weeping. The van had no female attendant though there were five girls there. One of us informed the local police station and police took the children into their custody and informed their parents," said another local who saw the accident. The Kandivli Police then went to Paras Hospital and took Bhatt in their custody.