One dead, 28 injured after ST bus hits container truck on Mumbai-Goa highway in Raigad

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A man died and 28 persons were injured after a state transport (ST) bus collided with a container truck on Mumbai-Goa highway in the early hours of Sunday, a police official told news agency PTI.

The incident took place near Mangaon in Talegaon village when the bus and container truck were moving side by side, the Raigad police official told PTI.

"The bus dashed against the truck. Passenger Vinod Tarale (38), a resident of Dombivali, died, while his wife Vaishnavi and 15-year-old son Atharva are seriously injured. In all 28 passengers, including nine women, three girls and five boys, were injured," the police official told PTI.

MSRTC authorities arranged a bus to ferry the passengers to their destinations after the incident, the police official told PTI.

Earlier, a 20 year-old collegian was killed after she was hit by a speeding BEST bus in Malwani in the northern part of Mumbai on Saturday morning, a police official told PTI.

The accident took place near gate number eight of Malwani bus depot and the victim has been identified as Farheen Khan, the police official told PTI.

She was on her way to college when the accident took place, the police official told PTI, adding that bus driver Mahadev Eknath Sasane has been booked for causing death due to negligence as well as rash driving.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on Friday staged a protest outside the venue of an event attended by PWD minister Ravindra Chavan to highlight the condition of the Mumbai-Goa Highway, reported news agency PTI.

MNS activists led by party leader Sandeep Deshpande shouted slogans outside the Shanmukhananda Auditorium at Mumbai's Kings Circle where Chavan was present for a felicitation function of engineers on the occasion of Engineers' Day, which is observed on September 15, reported PTI.

The Mumbai police had deployed a large number of its personnel to keep the situation under control, but it became chaotic for some time after cops pushed media persons covering the protest, reported PTI.

Speaking to reporters, Sandeep Deshpande said that they were opposed to the felicitation of engineers as they are the ones who are responsible for the condition of the Mumbai-Goa highway.

Replying to a query about Union minister Narayan Rane's remark that one lane of the highway has been concretised, Deshpande claimed that the newly built cement concrete lane has also developed cracks and potholes.

"Forgot the adjoining road, we have shown cracks on the completed road. A video of it has also been posted on my Facebook account. Rane saheb can watch it," Sandeep Deshpande was quoted as saying by PTI.

The MNS leader said they were there to protest peacefully and not to create a ruckus at the programme.

Last month, the party took out 'Padayatra' (foot march) on the highway in which party chief Raj Thackeray and his son Amit had also participated.

(With inputs from PTI)