Shiv Sena (UBT) Member of Parliament Sanjay Raut on Sunday expressed 'grief' over the accident on the Samruddhi Expressway in Maharashtra's Aurangabad in which 12 passengers died. Preliminary information revealed that all the passengers were residents of Pathardi and Indiranagar in Nashik district. Some devotees from Nashik had gone for darshan at the Baba Dargah in Buldhana district. The accident took place after the darshan when the bus was heading back to Nashik when a car came across a parked truck.
The bus driver lost control over the wheels. As a result, the bus hit the container from the rear side, the official said. Twelve passengers were killed. The deceased include five men, six women and a minor girl, he said. The official said 23 others received injuries and they were admitted to a government hospital.Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut claimed commuters' safety was overlooked on the Samruddhi Expressway.
"Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis only want to claim credit, they should also take the responsibility of deaths due to accidents on the expressway," he said."Why shouldn't the government be booked for culpable homicide?" the Rajya Sabha member asked and demanded that the minister concerned be sacked.Chief Minister Shinde termed the incident as unfortunate and in a post on X said he has given directives to find out reasons behind the fatal accident near Vaijapur.Orders have also been given to take strict action against those found responsible for it, he said.The state government will bear the expenses of treatment of the injured persons, the CM added.State Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in a message on X said the injured persons were admitted to Ghati civil hospital in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar city, while some of the injured persons were being treated at the Vaijapur hospital.