28 July,2013 03:07 AM IST | | A Correspondent
Barely a month after it was opened to citizens, the Eastern Freeway witnessed its first major traffic snarl yesterday after a speeding Hyundai Elantra (MH46W1265) coming from South Mumbai turned turtle near Wadala around 3.30 pm.
Pic/ Suresh KKu00a0
The three present in the car -- driver Sopan Prabhakar Shinde, Naksab Saleem Khan and Raza Abdul Raza Khan -- escaped the accident with minor injuries. The driver suffered a hand fracture while the other two suffered mild scratches. Following the accident, traffic slowed to a crawl on the expressway for at least two hours, before cops could clear the road.
"We were heading towards Chembur. We had hardly covered three kms when there was problem in the disk brake. I lost control of the car and it got out of control," said Sopan Prabhakar Shinde. MMRDA officials confirmed the accident but said that they were unaware about how the car turned turtle.
An official of condition of anonymity said, "We do not know thecause of the accident and would understand it only once we speak to the traffic officials." The accident took place at Wadala near the HPCL-BPCL oil depot. Despite heavy traffic and serpentine jams, vehicles were not diverted to any other route. The freeway was inaugurated on June 13 this year.
