Onion-laden truck falls off bridge, free crop for many

PUNE: The driver and the cleaner of an onion-laden truck were injured after the vehicle overturned and fell 40ft from Valvan bridge in Lonavla on Thursday, leading to a free-for-all collection of the crop for nearby residents.

The truck slipped through the gap on the bridge on Pune-Mumbai expressway and fell on the old Pune-Mumbai highway around 6.30am. “Fortunately, there were no vehicles on the highway at the time of the accident. Otherwise, there could have been a major tragedy,” an officer from the Lonavla (city) police said.

The officer said the Valvan bridge is divided into two segments – one for the vehicles heading towards Pune and one for the vehicles moving towards Mumbai. “There is a gap between the two segments and the truck fell on to the highway from this gap,” he said.

The police suspect that the driver of the truck may have lost control over the vehicle, resulting in the accident. “The eyewitnesses to the accident told us that the driver and the cleaner of the truck suffered injuries. However, the duo left the spot immediately after the accident, leaving the truck behind. We are yet to ascertain their whereabouts,” the officer said.

Police contacted the owner of the truck and he reached the spot late in the evening. Meanwhile, the authorities from the expressway and the highway safety patrol (HSP) also arrived at the spot and removed the wreckage of the truck from the carriageway with the help of a heavy-duty crane.

Police said as soon as the news about the accident and resultant onion strewn on the highway broke, the residents of nearby villages rushed to the spot and took away the crop.

“The accident and the rush of villagers caused security concerns on the highway for nearly an hour. The police had to halt the vehicular movement in the either directions of the highway,” the officer said.

“The normalcy returned to the highway after 45 minutes,” he added.