Four people were killed and five others were injured in an accident on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway at 10.30 a.m. on Friday.
The accident took place near Adoshi tunnel at Bor ghat when the driver of a truck transporting cement sacks to Mumbai, lost control of his vehicle. The truck rammed into the iron barricades, overturned and fell 10 feet below on to the Pune-bound lane.
The truck came crashing down on a Celerio, a Swift and an Innova. The impact of the accident caused the Swift to be thrown into the air and crash into a 40-foot-deep valley. The truck’s driver, Hasan Mehboob Shah Patel, died on the spot, while the cleaner sustained serious injuries and is undergoing treatment at MGM Hospital in Kalamboli.
Tragedy strikes: The mangled remains of vehicles involved in an accident on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway on Friday.
Police Sub Inspector Suryakant Pharate of Highway Police said, “We suspect the truck driver of speeding while negotiating a bend on the expressway. We have shifted the victims to the hospital and cleared the vehicles using a crane.”
Avinash Angre (45), a resident of Ahmedabad, who was driving the Celerio, sustained serious injuries and is undergoing treatment at Mohite Hospital in Khopoli. However, his wife Chitra (42) and daughter Nikita (25) died in the accident.
While Jitendra Bhasker Birari, the driver of the Swift, has been seriously injured and admitted to the Khopoli Civil Hospital, the passenger, Mrunalini Shrikant Kubedkar (60), died on the spot. The driver of the Innova, Arjunbhai Tapiyavala, and the passenger sustained minor injuries. Mr. Tapiyavala has filed a complaint against the truck driver.
A case has been registered at Khopoli police station under Sections 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way), 304 (A) (causing death by negligence), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code, and Section 184 (driving dangerously) of the Motor Vehicles Act.