Daijiworld Media Network – Mumbai

Mumbai, Jul 1: An 11-year-old boy was killed and four other students were injured after a roadside Peepal tree collapsed onto a school bus in Mumbai's Chembur area on Tuesday afternoon, officials said.

The incident occurred around 2.58 pm near a building on Road No. 11 when the tree suddenly fell on the bus carrying 12 students of Universal High School.

Fire brigade personnel and other emergency responders rushed to the spot and rescued all the children, including two who had been trapped inside the damaged vehicle.

Five injured students were shifted to a nearby hospital for treatment. Hospital authorities said four of them were in stable condition, while 11-year-old Vihan Srivastava, who had sustained critical injuries, was declared dead at around 4.30 pm.

Rescue teams had to cut through the fallen tree to free the child trapped inside the bus, police said.

Following the incident, local residents alleged that they had repeatedly urged the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to trim or remove the roadside trees, warning that they posed a serious safety hazard. They claimed a similar incident had occurred in the area earlier but no preventive action had been taken despite repeated complaints.

The accident comes amid heavy rain and thunderstorms triggered by the southwest monsoon in Mumbai.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast heavy rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning at isolated places across Mumbai and its suburbs. A yellow alert remains in place, warning of heavy showers at isolated locations, with the possibility of further updates based on weather conditions.

According to IMD data, the eastern suburbs recorded the highest rainfall in the 24-hour period ending at 8 am with an average of 40.62 mm, followed by the island city at 26.03 mm and the western suburbs at 22.47 mm.