Two back-to-back accidents took place on Friday evening, May 16, near the newly opened Missing Link section of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, leaving three people dead and four others injured. Two of the injured are reported to be in critical condition.
According to preliminary information, the first accident occurred after truck containers collided with each other and the second incident involved a bus ramming into three private vehicles on the Mumbai-bound carriageway near Borghat and the exit point of the Missing Link tunnel route. The collision caused a heavy traffic jam for some time, with long queues of vehicles seen on the route.
Also Read | Punjab Tragedy: Four-year-old Boy Fell into Borewell in Hoshiarpur; Rescue Efforts Underway.
Highway police stated that the first accident occurred at around 5.05 pm on the Mumbai-bound lane of the Expressway, near the Missing Link Tunnel. The accident involved a truck transporting paint material that reportedly lost control while heading from Pune towards Mumbai and rammed into another truck and a container truck travelling in front of it. The impact was so severe that all three vehicles overturned on the fast track, according to a Hindustan Times report.
Visuals From Accident Site
Deputy SP of Khalapur, Vishal Nehul, said the accident was possibly caused by a brake failure on the slope. The driver and the cleaner of the truck received serious injuries in the incident. Injured drivers were identified as Veer Balram from Rajasthan and Zeeshan Ali (31) from Uttar Pradesh. Both were rushed to Khopoli Rural Hospital for treatment.
A third body of the victim, which has not yet been identified, was retrieved from the spot towards evening, according to police officials.
The accident caused a massive jam on the Mumbai-bound stretch of the express was like a paint spill on the road, with powder bags and colour material across all four lanes of the Expressway, which has affected vehicular movement.
After receiving the information at around 5 pm, clearance and rescue teams reached the spot and cleared the stretch around 7 pm. Police later cleared the accident-hit vehicles and reopened all four lanes for traffic movement.
Second Accident
Soon after clearing the paint on the expressway to restore normal traffic, another accident took place at the same time on the same lane. A speeding private bus lost control and rammed into several four-wheelers, including cars in the traffic queue created by the earlier collision.
The vehicles were badly damaged, although no injuries or fatalities were reported in the incident. The police have detained the bus driver for questioning.