9 students killed in accident

PUNE : Nine college students returning from a picnic died on the spot after the Ertiga they were travelling in, jumped the median and collided head-on with a truck near Loni Kalbhor on the Pune-Solapur Highway on Saturday morning.

The incident took place around 1 am opposite the gram panchayat office in Kadam Wakvasti, about 16 km from Pune. All the deceased were aged between 19 to 21 years. 

Police Inspector Suraj Bandgar, in-charge of Loni Kalbhor police station under Pune rural police, said, “The college students had gone to Raigad Fort and Tamhini Ghat for sightseeing on Friday. The incident took place when they were returning home. The driver lost control and the vehicle jumped the median before colliding with a truck coming from the opposite direction.”

He further added, “After getting information, local residents and police officials rushed to the spot and removed seven bodies.”

"The fire brigade was called to cut the vehicle and remove two other bodies. All the bodies were brought to Sassoon General Hospital for post-mortem and then handed over to their family members at around 1 pm. The cremation was carried out in the evening,” Bandgar said. 

The deceased have been identified as Vishal Subhash Yadav (20), Nikhil Chandrakant Wabale (20), Akshay Chandrakant Gighay (20), Rishikesh alias Datta Ganesh Yadav (20), all  living near Yavat railway station, and Akshay Bharat Vaikar (20), Sonu alias Noormohamad Abbas Daaya (21), Parvez Ashpak Attar (21), Jubair Aziz Mulani (21), residents of Yavat Gaothan and Shubham Ramdas Bhise (19) of Ras Kasurdi in Daund taluka. They studied in different colleges. 

According to the police, Nikhil Wabale was driving the vehicle. The speeding vehicle was dragged for about 30 feet with the truck. As the accident happened in a residential area, people rushed to help the youths. However, none of the seven youths taken out of the vehicle were alive. Two others could not be brought out and fire brigade officials had to cut open the vehicle.