MUMBAI, July 21 -- A pedestrian was killed and ten others were injured when a BEST bus crashed into a road divider at Mankhurd on the Sion-Panvel highway on Monday morning. Among the injured were the driver and conductor of the bus operating on route no 501, from Kurla (east) to Airoli. The driver, Banwarilal Sharma, 51, has told the police that the brakes failed while descending the Mankhurd flyover, causing him to lose control of the vehicle. "After descending the flyover, the bus had to take a sharp left turn before approaching the bus stop. It appears the driver lost control here," said a BEST official. Bhaskar Kagde, 65, who was standing next to the divider, was struck by the bus and died on the spot. A farmer from Dharashiv, Kagde had visited his daughter in Mankhurd and was waiting to catch a bus to Pune, to visit his other daughter. Eight passengers, and the driver and conductor of the BEST bus, were injured in the accident. BEST officials said Ganesh Patel, a passenger, is in critical condition. This year, ten people have died and 46 were injured in a series of accidents involving BEST buses, bringing the wet-lease model adopted by the BEST under intense scrutiny. The BEST administration recently said plainclothes officers would ride on its buses to monitor driver behaviour and watch out for other reasons causing frequent mishaps. BEST sources said Sharma was an experienced driver. "The issue of driver training does not arise here as this driver has been operating on this route for months now. We are providing 28 days of training to all drivers," said a BEST official. A penalty of Rs.50,000 has been levied on wet-lease operator Mateshwari, whose bus was involved in Monday's accident. The injured passengers were identified as Shivmangal Maithi, 42; Ganesh Patel, 24; Lata Waghela, 42; Rajesh Varuganiye, 35; Ankita Jadhav, 22; Ranjana Ghorpade, 53; Shankar Sathe, 47; and Sanket Nakti. They were taken to Shatabdi Hospital, while the bus driver Banwarilal Sharma and conductor, Vaibhav Waghmare, 41, were being treated at Rajawadi Hospital. Police have registered a case against the driver, Banwarilal Sharma, under sections 106 of the BNS, for causing death by negligence. "He (the driver) said he was to steer the bus under the bridge but the brakes didn't work properly," said a police officer. "We will call the RTO and BEST teams to verify his claims," he added....