Racing bus crushes teen

minibus racing another on the same route ran over a 13-year-old boy on College Ghat Road in Howrah on Wednesday morning.
Banamali Dhara, who lived in nearby Naskarpara Lane and studied in Class VIII at Yasadamoyee High School, was on his way to his grandmother’s home, in the same locality, to fetch her slippers before she left for Bihar on a chartered bus.
Witnesses said a front wheel of a Botanic Garden-Esplanade minibus crushed the boy while he was crossing the road. The driver sped away. The driver of the other racing bus, too, fled with his vehicle.
Panchanan Hazra, 56, who saw the mishap said: “Both buses were speeding and none of the drivers saw the boy as he tried to cross the road after drinking water from a roadside tap. He probably died immediately.”
Pedestrians took Banamali to South Howrah State General Hospital, barely 300 metres away. He was declared dead on arrival.
Banamali’s father Piru Dhara, 38, said: “My mother was to go to Bihar on a tour organised by a local travel agency. Banamali went to see her off. After taking her seat in the bus, my mother realised that she had forgotten to take her slippers. She asked my son to get the slippers.”
Residents of the area came out on the road after the mishap and started pelting stones at buses. Two buses were damaged. The mob also tried to set a minibus on fire.