Two persons were killed when two buses of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) collided and then one of them hit an auto-rickshaw in Mumbai on Sunday, police said.

The accident took place at 1.45 am on a slippery road near Aarey flyover on the Western Express Highway, they said. Mumbai has been receiving rain for the past week, making roads slippery.

An official from Vanrai police station said both the BEST buses were heading to Ghatkopar depot from Poisar depot when the driver of the vehicle moving ahead applied brakes. The driver of the bus behind also applied brakes, but as the road was slippery due to rain, it skidded and collided with the bus in front and thereafter with an auto-rickshaw, the official said. Two passengers in the auto-rickshaw were severely injured, he said.

The police shifted the two passengers, Johny Sankharam (42) and Sujata Panchaki (38), to different hospitals where they were declared dead, the official said.

The auto-rickshaw driver also received a minor injury on his left cheek, he said. “On the basis of primary information, we have arrested the driver of the bus (which was in front) and booked him under Indian Penal Code section 304-A (causing death by negligence). The incident happened due to the slippery road. We are doing further investigation into it,” the official said.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)