According to the police, the driver of the container truck fled from the spot after the accident. The driver of a private bus was killed and at least 12 passengers, who were returning from a wedding, were injured when a container truck rammed into the bus near Khopoli on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway early on Monday, police said. The accident affected traffic on the expressway for over two hours.
According to officers, there were around 35 people on the bus. They were returning to Mumbai from Sindhudurg when the truck, which was allegedly speeding, hit the bus from the rear at around 6.55 am.
On receiving information about the accident, a team from Khopoli police station rushed to the spot. The driver and seven other passengers were rushed to the Municipal Hospital in Khopoli, where the driver was declared dead. He was later identified as Sanket Sawant, 25.
SP Somnath Gharge (Raigad) said, “The impact of the accident was so huge that the driver of the bus broke through the windshield and fell out on the road. He then landed under the wheels of another vehicle that was moving next to the bus.”
Police inspector Shirish Pawar of Khopoli station said, “Out of the 35 passengers in the bus, two are grievously injured, five have suffered minor injuries and were later shifted to MGM Hospital in Kamothe. Another five to six others who sustained minor injuries have been given first aid on the spot.”
“The driver of the container truck fled from the spot after the accident. We are trying to trace him. A probe is on,” he said. The process of lodging a first information report (FIR) is underway, officers added.