Five wrestlers on their way back from training die in tragic road accident

Image of the mangled car in which the wrestlers were travelling

Five wrestlers, who were returning from their training centre in Sangli, were among six killed, when the SUV they were travelling in, rammed into a tractor in the wee hours of Saturday. The incident took place around 1 am near Wangi village in Kedgaon on Old Satara Sangli Road. The police have identified the deceased as Vijay Shinde, 21, Akash Desai, 23, Shubham Gharge, 23, Saurabh Mane, 20, Avinash Gaikwad, 21, and driver Ranjeet Dhankawade, 25. All the six died on the spot, while six others, including the driver of the tractor, are critically injured.

According to Amarsinh Nimbalkar, sub-divisional police officer, Sangli, prima facie, the driver of the SUV appears to have lost control of his vehicle and crashed into the movie tractor. "The driver of the SUV, Dhankawade, was instantly killed. Another SUV vehicle with wrestlers from the same institute was also travelling on the same route. The wrestlers rushed to rescue the other accident victims. In the meantime, an ambulance was arranged," Nimbalkar said.

The injured were rushed to Chincani Primary Health Centre, but were declared dead on arrival. The bodies will be handed over to the families after a post-mortem. The five wrestlers were part of Kranti Kushti Sankul, a wrestling training centre in Kundal village. The centre has been encouraging economically disadvantaged children and youth from Satara and Sangli regions to pursue wrestling and academics. When contacted, Sharad Lad, secretary of Kranti Kushti Sankul, said, "It's a huge tragedy for us. After training at the centre on Friday, the wrestlers had gone to a nearby temple. They were on the way to their friend's house to celebrate Makar Sankranti when the accident took place."

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai, National and International news here

Download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go