Four from family killed, one hurt in car crash on Mum-Pune E-way

Four people of a family, including a 12-year-old girl, were killed in a fatal accident when a car crashed into a container on the Mumbai-Pune expressway in Raigad, early on Friday.

The family was returning to Mumbai after having attended a wedding in Sangli.

Rasayani police said the incident took place around 4.30am on the expressway when a Swift Dzire crashed into the container. In the car were Akshay Kokre, in his late twenties; his aunt Savita Mote, 36; Mote’s younger sister Rani Kharje, in her mid-thirties; Kharje’s daughter Riya, 12; and one unidentified woman. Kokre was driving the car.

According to the police, the tanker was driving towards Mumbai in the third lane when the car rammed into it. The car was totalled in the crash and it appears Kokre may have been driving at high speed. Kokre, Mote, Kharje and Riya were killed in the crash.

The unidentified woman sustained a head injury and injuries on her leg and is currently on ventilator in the intensive care unit at MGM Hospital in Kamothe, said an official from Raigad police.

“The back of the container impaled the car more on the front-left side, which is next to the driver’s seat. One of Kokre’s aunts was sitting in the front. We will conduct an investigation to analyse exactly how the crash took place,” said Sujata Tanawade, inspector at Rasayani police station.

Kokre and Kharje lived in Kalamboli and Mote was a Dombivli resident. Kokre worked as a driver and on Tuesday, he had asked his employer for a car to go to Sangli. Accompanied by his two aunts and 12-year-old cousin, Kokre drove to Sangli where they attended Kokre’s cousin sister’s wedding.

After all the wedding functions were over on Thursday, they left Sangli at around 8pm. Witness testimonies have been able to establish that the family stopped for dinner along the way.

“Kokre called up his employer and informed him that they have left around 8 pm. Around midnight, the vehicle was in Saswad in Pune, based on our preliminary investigation,” said Tanawade.

At around 4.30am, they had reached Rasayani village along the expressway. Their car collided with the container. The driver of the container immediately alerted the police about the crash and emergency services were brought in.

All five were taken to a local civic hospital with severe injuries and four were declared dead on arrival.

The police said a case of causing death due to negligence would be registered against Kokre. The families have claimed the four bodies and their last rites will be conducted in Sangli.