Maruti car gets crushed as its driver tried to cross right across the median without realising there was a trailer approaching from the other side of road
The spate of accidents on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway this year continued yesterday as four people lost their lives when their car rammed into a trailer at around 6 am.
ADVERTISEMENT
The incident took place in Lonavala’s Narayanidham region when the driver of a Maruti car tried to cut across the divider and ran into a trailer coming from the opposite side of the road. The accident instantly killed the four men in the car.
The deceased have been identified as Sirish Vichare (47) -- the driver, Naresh Patkar (45), Rajesh Ramalu (24) and Amit Verma (25).
A sub-inspector from Lonavla police station said that the deceased were headed to the city from Pune when the accident took place.
“The driver tried to cross the divider on the expressway without realising that there was a trailer approaching from the other side of the road. The car got crushed under the trailer instantly killing its passengers,” said a sub-inspector from the police station.
“However, the driver of the trailer did not sustain any injuries,” he added.
The car passengers were rushed to a civic hospital in Khandala where a post-mortem was conducted. The victims’ relatives were informed about the incident later during the day. All of the deceased were Santacruz residents and had gone to Pune for some official work, said the sub- inspector.
However, no arrests were made. A case of accidental death has been registered with the Lonavla police station.
Major mishaps on the Expressway
January 3: A 58-year-old man was killed near Urse toll plaza after a front tyre of his car burst. The car swerved and crashed into another that was heading to Mumbai.
January 28: Five people lost their lives on the expressway when a car coming from Mumbai lost control and crashed into a van coming from the opposite direction after jumping the medianu00a0
March 3: In another incident, seven people died and three were injured when a Sumo rammed into another vehicle while trying to enter the
Sion-Panvel highway.
December 23: Two Marathi TV actors, Anand Abhyankar and Akshay Pendse, along with Pendse’s 2-year-old son, died when their car was hit by a speeding goods carrier at the Urse toll plaza
Worst of them
The most horrific and fatal accident -- one that claimed the maximum number of lives -- on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway occurred in May last year when 28 members of a marriage party were killed after a goods truck smashed into their stationary mini-bus at Khalapuru00a0