A private luxury bus carrying over 50 passengers from Dombivli was involved in a fatal collision with a tractor on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
The bus was en route to Pandharpur for a pilgrimage and religious visit when the accident occurred late at night. The impact caused the bus to turn over twice and fall 10 meters into a small valley.
Tragically, five people lost their lives in the accident. Among the deceased were two individuals from the tractor and three passengers from the bus.
The incident is currently under investigation to determine the cause and any contributing factors.
Vivek Pansare, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Panvel Division, confirmed the accident occurred between 12:30 am and 1 am on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
The site of the crash is approximately 5 kilometers from Kalamboli, where the expressway begins.
A local passenger from the bus recounted that around four to five buses had left Dombivli at around 11 pm on Monday for the pilgrimage. The passenger described how they were engaged in bhajans when the tractor appeared suddenly, causing the bus to overturn and fall into a small valley. Despite the chaos, passengers managed to escape through the broken front window.
The Navi Mumbai police, highway police, local administration, IRB, and local rescuers quickly arrived at the scene to commence rescue operations. Many passengers trapped inside the bus were successfully rescued and transported to nearby hospitals.
The expressway was temporarily closed to facilitate the rescue operations. The highway police received a call at around 12:54 am alerting them to the accident. The entire expressway was littered with broken glass, and with the assistance of a crane, the bus was brought back onto the road and moved to a safe location.
Vivek Pansare stated that the police are conducting a thorough investigation and will take appropriate actions based on their findings. The Panvel city police, under whose jurisdiction the area falls, will be leading the investigation.
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