Five die after pvt bus en route Pandharpur crashes with tractor on Mumbai-Pune Expressway

The bus turned turtle twice/ Sourced Photo

Five persons died after a private luxury bus carrying over 50 passengers from Dombivli to Pandharpur collided with a tractor on the Mumbai-Pune Express Highway late on Monday night. The impact of the collision caused the bus to turn turtle twice and fall 10 meters away from the road breaching the railing, the police said.

According to police sources, among the five deceased were three passengers of the bus and two on the tractor. A probe into the accident is currently underway to ascertain what caused the accident on the Mumbai-Pune expressway.

At around 12:54 am, the highway police received a call from the control centre telling them of the collision. "The entire motorway was covered in pieces of broken glass. The bus was brought onto the road and relocated to a safe location using a crane," said one official.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Panvel division) Vivek Pansare confirmed the accident and said the incident took place between 12.30 am to 1 am on the Mumbai-Pune Express Highway.

"The spot is almost around 5 kilometres away from Kalamboli. A private bus full of around 54 people was heading from a village in Dombivli to Pandharpur for pilgrimage hit a tractor from behind and turned turtle. It breached the railing and fell into a small downhill slope. The passengers of the bus were rescued and sent to MGM Hospital and a nearby civic hospital based on the gravity of their injury," said Pansare.

The senior cop said, "Among the five deceased, two were in the tractor and three were aboard the bus en route to Pandharpur for pilgrimage."

Vivek Pansare further added that we are further investigating the matter and will take proper action accordingly. The area comes under the Panvel city police who will further investigate the matter.

An eyewitness, who was travelling in the bus, told mid-day that at least four buses had left Dombivli around 11 pm on Monday. "We were en route to Pandharpur since we visit the revered temple town on the occasion of Ashadhi Ekadashi every year. On Monday, four to five buses had left for Pandharpur and we were all singing bhajans (hymns). Suddenly our bus crashed into a tractor and turned over twice, We fell on each other and once it was safe, we came out of the bus through the front window which had broken," the passenger recounted.

The Navi Mumbai police along with Highway police, local administration, IRB and local rescuers reached the spot to start the rescue operation. Many of the passengers who were stuck inside were rescued by locals and sent to the hospital.

The vehicular movement on the Express Highway was stopped till the rescue operation was completed.