M A I N   N E W S

Mumbai-Pune expressway mishap kills 27
Shiv Kumar/TNS

Mumbai, May 28
Twenty seven members of a marriage party died and 26 others received serious injuries in a bizarre road accident on the Mumbai-Pune expressway at around 1 am today.

According to the state police control room, the victims hailing from Pune's Yerwada neighbourhood were travelling in two mini-buses to Pune after attending a wedding in the Mumbai suburb of Ghatkopar. The mishap happened when the tyres of one of the vehicles got punctured near Khalapur village after which both vehicles moved to the side of the road for carrying out repairs. Police said both vehicles were parked one behind the other when a loaded truck travelling at a high speed smashed into the second mini-bus.

Police said the impact of the crash was such that the mini-bus at the back rammed into the bus parked in the front. "Several passengers in both vehicles died on the spot due to the impact," an officer at the control room said. Police said a number of passengers, who had alighted from both buses and were standing between both the vehicles, were crushed to death.

According to the police, four children were among the dead. Till this afternoon three of the dead have been identified as Pooja Shinde (12), Om Sonavane (6) and Mangla Gaikwad (42).

The injured have been admitted to the MGM hospital at Panvel and the Sassoon Hospital in Pune. The truck driver has been detained at Khalapur in Raigad district.

According to police, the newly married couple was safe as they were travelling separately.

Bizarre accident

• The mishap took place when a loaded truck travelling at a high speed smashed into a mini-bus parked on the side of the road
• The impact of the crash was such that the mini-bus rammed into the bus parked in its front, crushing people seated on the road between both vehicles
• Both vehicles had moved to the side of the road after a tyre of one of the vehicles got punctured