Raigarh (IANS) | At least 12 people, including five minors, were killed and 28 others injured when a private bus fell into a gorge on the Mumbai-Pune highway in the early hours of Saturday. President Draupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Governor Ramesh Bais, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and others condoled the tragedy and expressed condolences to the victims and their families.
The Prime Minister has announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each to the injured. Chief Minister Shinde has said that the families of the deceased will be given an ex-gratia of Rs five lakh each and the state government will bear the entire cost of the treatment of the injured.
Khopoli Police Inspector Shirish K. Pawar said the accident took place around 4 am on the Pune-Mumbai stretch of the old highway and the bus reportedly fell into a drain about 50 meters below near the dangerous Borghat section.
“From the preliminary investigation, it appears that the driver might have lost control at a sharp turn on the highway, but our priority is the rescue operation,” Pawar said.
There was limited traffic on the highway when the accident occurred, but some people managed to reach the accident site and called Raigad police, fire brigade, some workers from a nearby construction project and a group of local trekkers for help.
Locals said a massive rescue operation was immediately launched with ropes and climbers descending to help the victims. There were 40-45 people including the driver in the bus.
According to Pawar and the district administration, around 12 people have died in the accident. Right now the number of dead may increase further. The injured were taken to Khopoli Civil Hospital, Jakhotia Hospital and MGM Hospital in Navi Mumbai for treatment. The condition of some of them is said to be serious.
A police official said most of the passengers were members of Baji Prabhu Music Group, Goregaon. Five of them were minors while the other members were in the age group of 18 to 25 years. He was returning home after attending a program in Pune on Friday.
The dead were Jui D. Sawant (18), Kritik Lohit (16), Rahul Gothan (17) (all from Goregaon); Abhay V. Sable (20) and Vaibhavi Sable (15) of Malad; Harshada Pardeshi (19) of Mahim; Satish S. Dhumal (25), Swapnil S. Dhumal (15), Yash S. Yadav (20), Manish Rathore (25) and Veer K. Mandavkar (6) are included. One of the deceased is yet to be identified.
Meanwhile, parents and relatives of the deceased and injured victims from different parts of Mumbai reached the accident site and hospitals in Raigad and Navi Mumbai.
–IANS
