One dead as bus rams into crane on Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway

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One person was killed when a Gujarat state transport bus rammed into a crane on Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway in Maharashtra's Palghar district on Sunday.

PTI reported quoting a police official that the incident took place at around 3 am when the crane which had hit a road divider on the highway was being reversed.

At that time, the bus, belonging to the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation and carrying 35 passengers, rammed into the crane from behind at Dapchari check post on Maharashtra-Gujarat border, he said.

The cleaner of the crane was killed in the accident. The body was sent to a government hospital for postmortem, the police added.

On October 15, 12 people were killed and 23 others injured when a speeding mini-bus hit a container on Samruddhi Expressway in Maharashtra's Aurangabad district.

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PTI reported that 35 passengers were traveling in the bus.

Leader of Opposition Ambadas Danve in the Maharashtra Legislative Council visited the accident site and the hospital on Sunday morning to meet with the patients.

Dr Balaji Gore, the RMO at Ghati hospital, stated that all the injured are stable except for the two in critical condition, and no one requires further medical procedures. "Two other patients chose Discharge Against Medical Advice (DAMA), but they were not in serious condition either," he added. He mentioned that five politicians have visited the hospital since the accident.

Speaking with mid-day, Ambadas Danve pointed fingers at the RTO and highway police officials for the accident because the tempo traveller exceeded the prescribed passenger limit. He said that the accident could have been avoided if the authorities had stopped the vehicle before it entered the Samruddhi highway.

He also alleged that due to a lack of roadside amenities, motorists travelling on the Samruddhi highway have to travel non-stop. "I use the highway regularly, and while going from Ghoti to Sambhaji Nagar, we have to travel continuously for two to three hours. We cannot even stop on the highway because there are hardly any wayside amenities. The government should have developed proper infrastructure for wayside amenities along the Samruddhi highway before inaugurating it. What was the need to inaugurate it when there are very few amenities along the Samruddhi highway?" Danve added.