70-year-old killed as SUV rams into auto

A 70-year-old woman was killed while her husband and an autorickshaw driver — both senior citizens — were grievously injured after a speeding sport utility vehicle

A 70-year-old woman was killed while her husband and an autorickshaw driver — both senior citizens — were grievously injured after a speeding sport utility vehicle (SUV) rammed into their autorickshaw near Belapur flyover on Thursday.

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The impact was so severe that the autorickshaw flipped over following the impact. The autorickshaw driver Maruti Gaikwad, 63, had picked up the passengers Virendra Singh, a septuagenarian, and his wife Ambuja from Utsav Chowk in Kharghar around 11.20 am on Thursday. The couple was going to Sector 5 in CBD Belapur.

Around 11.40 am, they reached CBD Belapur and Gaikwad was taking a turn near Maharashtra State Electricity Board office in Sector 5. As he took a right turn, a speeding Innova car hit the left side of the rickshaw, following which the three-wheeler flipped on the road. “Currently, our team is looking for the accused who is at large,” said Dinkar Mohite, senior inspector at CBD Belapur police station. The Innova car driver fled from the scene immediately while other passersby rushed to the trio. Three of them were taken to MGM Hospital in CBD Belapur. Sources said the car hit other vehicles while fleeing from the spot.

Ambuja got grievous injuries in her stomach and on her head and she was declared dead on arrival at the hospital. Her husband was admitted for treatment, while Gaikwad sustained multiple fractures and stitches in the skull. The police team found the vehicle registration number plate of the Innova which had fallen off the road after it crashed into the auto. The car owner was traced to Kalyan but the driver is yet to be arrested.

In another accident, a 40-year-old man, Ali Asgar Abbas Sabuwala, and his son, Mohammed, were injured after a car hit their scooter on Palm Beach Road on Friday morning.