Two on way home to vote killed in expressway bus crash

PUNE: Three persons, including two going to Satara to vote from Navi Mumbai, were killed and at least 16 others suffered injuries after their bus crashed into a stationary truck near Kamshet , about 45km from the city, on the expressway around 4am on Monday.

The Kamshet police identified the two deceased voters as Sayaji Pandurang Patil (65) and Sambhaji Shivaji Patil (45) of Ghansoli in Navi Mumbai, having their roots at Patan taluka in Satara district .

The third victim, Mohan Kumar Shetty (42) of Vangani near Badlapur in Thane district, was one of the two drivers of the Kolhapur-bound bus. Police said all the victimes were sitting the

All the 16 injured passengers are from Patan taluka in Satara district. They are being treated at a private hospital at Somatane Phata near Talegaon Dabhade. They were also going to their native villages in Satara to cast vote.

An officer from the Kamshet police said a truck driver had parked his vehicle on the shoulder lane after one of its tyres deflated midway. The driver of the speeding Kolhapur-bound bus did not notice the parked truck and crashed into it around 4am. “The speeding bus tipped over and was completely damaged,” the officer said.

He said teams of the Kamshet police and the Highway Safety Patrol (HSP) rushed to the spot after getting information about the accident and shifted the injured people to nearby hospital. “Three of them were pronounced dead on arrival,” the officer said.

Another accident occurred near Kamshet on Pune-Mumbai expressway about half-an-hour before the fatal accident, in which four bus passengers suffered injuries. The bus crashed into the rear of another while trying to overtake the latter. “The four injured persons were travelling in the bus which tried to overtake the other,” the officer said.