The Eastern Freeway is fast turning into a death trap. After yesterday’s accident on the stretch near Chembur, the vehicles were so mangled that gas cutters had to be used to extricate the victims
The Eastern Freeway is fast turning into a death trap. Last morning, three persons were killed and two others were injured in a pile-up car crash on the stretch near Chembur. The vehicles were so mangled that gas cutters had to be used to extricate the victims
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View Photos: Deadly accident on Eastern Freeway in Mumbai
The fire brigade extricates a victim from the mangled remains. Pics/Atul Kamble
It is suspected that at least one of the vehicles was speeding.
RCF police said a Toyota Innova driven by Dockyard Road resident Abdul Hamid Mohammad Hasan Sirwa (48) was headed for Thane on the freeway. He was allegedly speeding and lost control over his vehicle near Chembur. “The SUV vaulted over the road divider and crashed into an oncoming Hyundai Santro taxi, heading for CST. A Swift Dzire that was right behind the taxi, too, crashed into it,” said a police official.
Read Story: Accident on Eastern Freeway causes traffic snarl for half hour
The cars were so mangled that gas cutters had to be used to take out the victims
The taxi driver, Nandlal Jaiswal (46), a resident of Vartak Nagar in Thane, and his passenger, Vijay Kelkar (48), died on the spot. Sirwa was rescued, but declared dead on arrival at the Sion Hospital. The occupants of the Swift Dzire car — Mahesh Kukulekar (38) and Ajay Jadhav (33), civil engineers and residents of Kharghar and Vashi, escaped with minor injuries. They were admitted to Shatabdi Hospital in Govandi, but discharged soon.
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Police officials said Sirwa, Jaiswal and Kelkar were trapped in their vehicles. The fire brigade was alerted around 9.27 am. It got stuck in a subsequent traffic jam on the freeway and could reach the spot only by 9.48 am.
Mangled remains
Arif Siddique, who saw the cars piled up on the freeway while on his way to Mumbai Central from Chembur, was horrified by the extent of damage to the cars. “I use the freeway to save time. Often, I see motorists speeding,” he said.
A taxi driver, who was standing near the ramp of the Eastern Freeway near Mahul, learnt of the accident when he saw traffic police rushing to the spot. “They told us that people were trapped inside the cars and that the frames of the vehicles had to be cut. Parts of the cars were still stuck in the bodies when they were taken out.”
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone VI) Shahaji Umap said a case under section 304 (A)(causing death by negligence) has been filed against Sirwa based on a complaint from Kukulekar.
(Reported by Ranjeet Jadhav, Faisal Tandel, Rupsa Chakraborty and Aparna Shukla)
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