Four lose lives in Mumbai-Pune Expressway mishap

Pune: Three passengers travelling in a car and another person died in an accident on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway when a four-wheeler first toppled after being hit by a tempo and then was crushed after coming under a trailer, which another out-of-control speeding trailer had rammed into. The accident occurred after the tempo’s driver took an abrupt turn in a bid to veer to safety after seeing the two trailers colliding with each other, but ended up hitting the car.

The accident, in which three other passengers of the car sustained injuries and the driver of the out-of-control trailer was killed as well, took place at Borghat near Khopoli. The passengers in the Eco car were travelling to Mumbai from Satara, according to the police.

H.D. Kisave, police sub-inspector, Khopoli, said, “The speeding trailer (RJ 14 GG1846) hit another trailer near Khopoli in Borghat on the Expressway, near Dheku village. The driver of a tempo saw the speeding trailer hit another trailer and tried to change the direction of his vehicle. But in doing so, he rammed badly into the Eco car, which toppled and got crushed completely under the trailer. The passengers in the Eco car were going to Mumbai from Satara.”

Two of the passengers in the Eco car and the driver of the speeding trailer died on the spot. Another passenger in the car died in hospital, while the other three in the car are severely injured and admitted to MGM Hospital in Kamothe. The deceased have been identified as Balasaheb Shinde (40) from Phalatan, Satara, Sanjay Pawar (40) and Rajendra Patankar (42) from Chiplun, and the driver of the trailer Nandkishor Mali (42), who is from Rajasthan. Their bodies were sent for post-mortem to the same hospital, even as the family members of the deceased were informed of their death.