'He Has To Go Play': Clutching Cricket Bat, Mother Waits For Son Killed In Mumbai School Bus Tree Collapse
'He Has To Go Play': Clutching Cricket Bat, Mother Waits For Son Killed In Mumbai School Bus Tree Collapse Published By, Last Updated: July 01
'He Has To Go Play': Clutching Cricket Bat, Mother Waits For Son Killed In Mumbai School Bus Tree Collapse Published By, Last Updated: July 01, 2026, 07:26 IST Vihan died on Tuesday after a tree collapsed onto the Universal School bus he was travelling in while returning home. Four other children were injured in the incident. Rapid Read Mother of the deceased, Juhi Shrivastav (Centre) and family members, outside Zen Hospital as Vihan Shrivastav's body is taken for postmortem to Rajawadi Hospital. (Photo: X) Hours after 11-year-old Vihan Shrivastav was killed when a roadside tree fell on his school bus in Mumbai’s Chembur, his mother remained seated at home, clutching his cricket bat and refusing to believe that her son would never return. Vihan died on Tuesday after a tree collapsed onto the Universal School bus he was travelling in while returning home. Four other children were injured in the incident. A video showed his mother, Juhi, sitting silently with the cricket bat in her hands as relatives and friends tried to console her. Neighbour and family friend Raji Malhotra said Vihan had always dreamed of becoming a professional cricketer. “Only Juhi can describe the immense grief that has befallen her.
Vihan used to visit our home often and tell me, ‘Aunty, I want to play cricket professionally.’ He would say, ‘Please ask Dev to teach me cricket.’ He was a very sensible, bright child with good values, and his dream was to become a cricketer," she said, as quoted by NDTV. ‘He was her whole world’ Malhotra said Juhi was deeply attached to her son and constantly worried about him whenever he stepped out of the house. “Vihan’s mother doted on him. He was her whole world. She worried about him constantly. Whenever Vihan was out of the house, she would video call him throughout the day to check on him. Even now, she is sitting there holding his cricket bat. It has become very difficult for her to accept that Vihan is no longer in this world. She still keeps saying that Vihan has to go play cricket," she told NDTV. Tree falls on school bus The incident took place on Tuesday afternoon when a roadside tree was uprooted and crashed onto a Universal High School bus in Chembur. The Mumbai Fire Brigade received the emergency call at 2.58 pm. According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the tree standing along Road No. 11 near Heritage Pride fell onto the Force Motors school bus bearing registration number MH03/CV-7439.
There were 13 children on the bus when the tree collapsed. The impact trapped several students inside the damaged vehicle. Even before emergency teams reached the spot, the bus conductor and local residents began rescuing the children. Firefighters and police personnel later joined the operation and safely evacuated all the students. One child dies, four injured Five students, including three boys and two girls, were taken to Zen Multispeciality Hospital in Chembur. Hospital authorities said Vihan suffered critical injuries and was declared dead. According to the on-duty medical officer, Dr Sadhana, he was declared dead at 4.23 pm. The remaining four children sustained minor injuries and are in stable condition. Hospital director Dr Roy Patankar said two of the injured children had undergone additional medical examinations, including CT scans, and were receiving treatment. The other two children had also been examined and were stable. Authorities launch probe Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde visited the hospital to meet the affected families after the incident. “This was painful. I came here as a mother. The parents were speechless. The Universal School bus had 13 children, of which 12 are safe. Unfortunately, one died," she said. Authorities have begun investigating the incident to determine what caused the roadside tree to be uprooted.
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