A Pune bus driver, said to be mentally ill, hijacked a State Transport bus and killed 9 persons and injured atleast 40 people. "So far, nine pedestrians, including two children, have been killed in the incident and around 40 injured," an official of Pune police control told. The condition of at least five of the injured, being treated at the Sassoon Hospital, is reported to be serious. More than two dozen vehicles have been damaged in the incident, he added.

Santosh Mane, a Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) driver, was finally overtaken and arrested from the Nilayam Talkies area, around 25 km from the Swargate ST Depot from where it was hijacked, the official said. The official said details were being collated from various police stations since the vehicle passed through the jurisdiction of around five police stations on the route from Swargate to Nilayam Talkies area.

The incident happened shortly before 8 am when Mane suddenly climbed into a Pune-Satara-Pune bus at the Swargate ST Depot and zoomed off, driving at a high speed on the wrong side of the road, taking the oncoming vehicles and people unawares. According to police, Mane sped off for nearly 25 km, ramming stationary or moving vehicles en route and crushing or knocking off pedestrians before he was nabbed by a police party at Dandekar Flyover, the official said.

Fire brigade officials and local residents helped police bring the vehicle under control and help move the injured to nearby hospitals. Senior officials rushed to the scene and authorities requisitioned a crane to remove the bus and other damaged vehicles along the route to clear the road for normal traffic.

Video Source: tv9