A family of six, including an 8-yr-old, and the driver lost their lives in the gruesome mishap; car's driver allegedly tried to overtake a vehicle. Bus drivers sustain minor injuries; all 24 bus passengers safe
A family of six, including an eight-year-old, and the driver lost their lives after the car they were travelling in collided head-on with a Shivneri AC bus near Indapur village early on Sunday.
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The Wagon R was reduced to a heap of scrap after it collided with the Shivneri bus around 6 am yesterday. A police officer, who inspected the accident scene, said while five of the family members travelling in the car died on the spot, two others breathed their last while being rushed to the nearest hospital
The family was going to their native village, Pave, in Ratnagiri district and the bus was en route to Mumbai from Panaji. The accident took place at 6 am, when the driver of the car allegedly tried to overtake a vehicle and collided with the oncoming bus. “We were going to Sangmeshwar (before Ratnagiri) when the car in front of us crashed into the Shivneri bus,” said Abdul Razzak Khan (50), an eyewitness who was travelling with his 27-year-old nephew, Tahir Ali Khan.
While all occupants of the car died, two drivers of the bus (MH04FK1530) — Jitendra Khoshe (35) and RR More (42) — sustained minor injuries and were taken to a primary health centre in Kolad by the Mangaon police.
Eyewitnesses Tahir Khan and Abdul Razzak Khan
A spokesperson from the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), which owns the bus, however, said, “The drivers were not injured because of the crash but because the public thrashed them post the accident.”
He said the fault lay with the car driver. “As per the RTO’s rules, the car was supposed to carry only five passengers, but it carried seven. The car was trying to overtake another vehicle, which caused the mishap.”
All six family members — Swati Swapnil Tambe (35), Swapnil Rajaram Tambe (35), Suryakant Bhiku Tambe (47), Bhiku Tambe (72), Santosh Tambe (43) and Rishab Tambe (8) — and car driver Praveen Suresh (29) succumbed to the injuries. All 24 passengers and the cleaner of the bus escaped unhurt.
“We started the rescue operation with the help of locals and passersby. We took five persons, including the child, out of the car, but to rescue the two in the front seats, we had to use gas cutters,” said Tahir.
5 died on the spot
A police official, who inspected the accident spot, said, “Five of the family members died on the spot while two others died on the way to the hospital. We are investigating the matter.”
RV Dongre, sub-inspector, Mangaon police station, said the family was from Dombivli and had hired a Wagon-R to visit their village. “The accident took place near Nagroli near Indapur, just 1 km ahead of Mangaon.
The incident took place between 6am and 6.15am on Sunday.” He added that a case was yet to be registered.
In shock
“We could not believe it when the police called us up to give the news. They (the family) were just going on a trip,” said Mangesh Khaire, a relative of the family who made the funeral arrangements in the village.
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