Fun ride to Pune ends in death for five after truck runs over them

Police inspect the vehicle at the accident spot

A fun ride to Pune to attend a common friend's wedding turned into a nightmare for a group of eight from Mumbai, when their car broke down on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.

Moments after they got down and started pushing the vehicle to the roadside, a truck rammed into it from behind, killing five of them at the spot and injuring three others. An accident case has been registered at the Panvel police station.

One still critical
The deceased have been identified as Santosh Prajapati, 40, Rashid Nifeez Khan, 24, Zumaan Sharutali Shaikh, 45, Dinesh Jaiswal, 30, and Ayodhaya Yadav, 26. While three of them died on the spot, two succumbed to their injuries on the way to hospital. Of the three who were critically injured - Ramchandra Yadav, 30, Sanjay Chotelal Rajbhar, 28 and Mudrika Prasad Jaiswal, 36, - Yadav is still undergoing treatment at MGM Komote hospital.

According to the Mumbai-Pune Expressway control room, the incident took place at 5 am. The friends, travelling in an Omni car, had already covered 4 km of the Expressway and were in the second lane when the vehicle broke down.

Recalling the incident, Rajbhar said, "Around 12.30 am we left from Mandala to attend our friend's wedding in Pune. When the car broke down, we were in the second lane of the highway. When we got down and started pushing the vehicle, suddenly a truck rammed into it from behind. Three of my friends died on the spot, while two of them passed away on the way to Lokmanya hospital. Later, an onlooker informed the police about the incident."

Scrapped plan
Speaking to mid-day, deceased Jaiswal's friend Kishor Jaiswal, who owns S K Computer shop at Mankhurd, said, "Everyone in our society was invited for the wedding of Swapnil Daundkar, which was scheduled to take place around 12 pm on April 30. However, we had to drop the plan of attending it at the last moment, as we couldn't arrange for transport. On Saturday, Jaiswal suggested that we could go on my bike, but as there was someone technical problem in the two-wheeler, I scrapped the plan. Then he chalked out a plan with his other friends and set out on the journey. We went to the spot after we got the news about the accident, but by then my friend had already died."

Driver might have dozed off
When contacted, R More, senior police inspector of Khandeshwar police station, said, "The owner of the truck is being interrogated and details about the accused driver is being taken. He might have dozed off while driving. Three teams have been formed to look for him."

Meanwhile, Kuldeep Salgotra, MGM Komote hospital dean, said, "Yadav has received severe head injuries, for which he has to undergo a surgery. We will be able to comment on his condition only after two to three days."
Inputs by Anamika Gharat

Also read: Bizarre! 10 freak accidents that resulted in death

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