3 of family killed, 4 injured after autorickshaw falls into under-construction nullah in Thane's Bhiwandi

KALYAN: Three members of a family were killed and four others sustained injuries after an autorickshaw, which they were travelling in, fell into an under-construction deep nullah on Mumbai-Nashik Highway in Thane's Bhiwandi, on Wednesday night.
The incident took place at around at 11.30pm near Bhumi world when autorickshaw driver Rakesh Chauhan, along with his family, was returning home from Juhu Chowpaty.
The deceased has been identified as Munni Chauhan (Rakesh's wife), Radhika Chauhan (Rakesh's sister-in-law) and Aniksha (Rakesh's younger daughter) whereas the four injured include Rakesh Chauhan, his son Ravi and two daughters Ankita and Anjali who are undergoing treatment at state-run IGM hospital in Bhiwandi.
The police said the Titwala resident along with his family had gone to Juhu Chowpaty for an outing in the morning.
It is alleged that due to darkness on road and absence of any warning symbol by MMRDA which is constructing the nullah, Rakesh could not see the nullah and his auto fell into it, leading to the tragedy.
After hearing screams of Rakesh and his family members for help, passersby came to their rescue and pulled them out of the nullah using ropes and rushed them to state-run IGM hospital where doctor declared three of them dead.
The Kongaon police in Bhiwandi under whose jurisdiction the incident happened have registered an accidental death case.
Further investigation is under way.