MUMBAI, May 15 -- A routine work day turned into a tragedy for BEST bus conductor Shekhar Rawate, 52, who was crushed to death in a four-bus pile-up at Andheri West on Thursday. The chain collision took place at around 1:15pm on the busy stretch between Amboli Naka and Rajkumar bus stop. Rawate was crushed between two buses and declared dead on arrival at the civic-run Cooper Hospital. BEST sources said a fallen tree at Amboli Naka had caused a traffic jam in the surrounding localities, including on JP Road, where four BEST buses were stranded, back to back. The first three buses, (Routes 266, Route 242 and Route 249) were single-deck, CNG buses operated by wet-lease operator, Mateshwari. The fourth was an electric bus manufactured by PMI, running on Route 251, from Andheri station to Versova. Sources said there was a fair amount of space between the third and fourth bus, allowing an auto-rickshaw to drive through. As the buses waited in queue, the driver of the fourth bus removed the handbrake to move forward and close the gap between his bus and the one in front, according to a BEST official. However, he accidentally hit the bus in front. When the driver of the third bus tried to slowly take his bus forward, he ended up dashing the second bus, which went on to hit the first bus. Rawate, the conductor of the first bus, stepped down to check the damage. During this time, the driver of the third bus failed to notice him while reversing and crushed Rawate, who was standing between the third and fourth buses, according to the official. Sources said it is not known whether the driver of the fourth bus lost control of his vehicle when he released the handbrake, or there was another reason the bus lurched forward. The collision caused the windscreen of the e-bus to shatter and damage to the rear of the bus in front. Rawate was declared dead on admission to Cooper Hospital at 1:35pm. "The matter is under verification and detailed investigation. BEST has constituted an enquiry committee to investigate the causes and circumstances of the accident and to recommend necessary remedial and preventive measures," said Sucheta Utale, spokesperson, BEST undertaking, in a statement. Shekhar Rawate, a resident of Virar East, left for work on Thursday morning like any other day. "When he left home, we expected him to return in the evening like any day," said a family member, who described Rawate as soft-spoken. Before joining the wet-lease operator, he had worked with the Vasai-Virar civic body's bus transport service. Rawate is survived by his wife, a daughter and three sons. Thursday's fatal collision is the latest in a troubling string of accidents involving the BEST undertaking. Over the last two years, safety lapses, particularly regarding its growing fleet of wet-lease electric buses, has caused increasing concern....