Two killed in Expressway accidents as heavy rains lash parts of Maharashtra

Mumbai-Pune Expressway accident

Two people were killed in separate road accidents on the Mumbai-Pune expressway following heavy downpour that lashed several parts of Maharashtra. Both accidents took place during the wee hours of Friday near Urse area of Pune and was reported with the Talegaon Dhabhade police station which falls under the jurisdiction of Pune rural police.

In the first incident, the deceased was a Shivneri bus driver, who has been identified as Sudhir Devghare and hails from Satara. In the other accident involving three heavy vehicles, a woman passenger of a luxury bus died and 15 other persons sustained minor injuries. The woman has been identified as Suvarna Ganapure (34), a resident of Bidar district in Karnataka.

Policeman Sunil Babar deployed at Talegaon Police station said, "The first accident took place around 12 am in which a Shivneri bus of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) with 25 passengers was coming from Mumbai and heading to Pune when the driver lost control of his vehicle and rammed the bus into a truck. The driver, who was griviously injured due to the impact was declared brought dead after he was rushed to a hospital.

The passengers were unharmed, but according to reports, they were left stranded on the expressway for a while before other bus of MSRTC arrived at the spot to rescue them.

In the second accident, involving three heavy vehicles including a private luxury bus, a tempo and a truck, one woman passenger of the luxury bus died and 15 other persons got injured.

Senior Inspector Vasant Babar of Talegaon Dhabhade police station who is investigating the cases said,"the accidents took place on Mumbai-Pune expressway, however we are still not clear whether the heavy rain led to the incidents. The accidents happened between 12 am and 5 am on Friday when the downpour was heavy. We are probing the cases and are yet to record the statement of driver and eye-witnesses."