12 killed as overcrowded minibus rams truck on Samruddhi expressway

12 people, including a 5-year-old child, died and 23 others were injured in a minibus-truck collision on the Samruddhi highway in Aurangabad. The accident has raised concerns about the safety of the newly inaugurated expressway, which has seen 729 accidents in 9 months. The state government has suspended two assistant transport inspectors and arrested the truck driver. The CM announced compensation for the victims' families. Investigation is ongoing.

Twelve people, including a five-year-old girl child, died, and 23 others were injured after a minibus rammed a truck on the Samruddhi highway near Vaijapur in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, also known as Aurangabad, on Sunday. The accident has once again focused attention on the newly inaugurated expressway, which has seen 729 accidents in a span of nine months.

The 17-seater minibus carrying 35 passengers was headed towards Nashik when the driver allegedly lost control of the speeding vehicle and crashed into the rear end of a truck. (PTI)

According to the Vaijapur police, the 17-seater minibus carrying 35 passengers was headed towards Nashik at around 12:30 am, its occupants having returned from offering prayers at the Sailani Baba dargah in Buldhana district. Near Vaijapur, the driver reportedly lost control of the speeding vehicle and crashed into the rear end of a truck which had been allegedly stopped by the highway police. The impact was so severe that 12 passengers were killed instantly.

Hours after chief minister Eknath Shinde ordered a probe into the accident and said that the strictest action would be taken against those found responsible, the state government has taken a call to suspend two assistant transport inspectors—Pradip Chaburao Rathod, 30, and Nitinkumar Siddharth Gonarkar, 32—who had allegedly stopped the minibus in the middle of the highway. The Vaijapur police have arrested the two as well as the truck driver, Brijeshkumar Kamalsingh Chandel, 32, on the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder among other sections of the IPC.

Transport commissioner Vivek Bhimanwar confirmed that he had signed the order to suspend transport inspectors Rathod and Gonarkar, holding them responsible for the accident. “They stopped a truck, but did not take the necessary safety measures,” he said. Principal secretary of the state transport department Parrag Jaiin Nainutia added that an in-depth inquiry would be conducted. “We will also check what protocols we have for stopping vehicles, and they will be amended if necessary,” he said.

Ravindra Singhal, additional director general, highway traffic, Maharashtra, said that the case was being investigated by the local police. “We will investigate if the tail lights of the stationary truck were on,” he said.

The CM announced a compensation of ₹5 lakh to the kin of the deceased while the Prime Minister’s Office announced a compensation of ₹2 lakh to the families of those killed and ₹50,000 for the injured.

According to Anita Jamadar, superintendent of highway police, Sambhajinagar, the twelve deceased were five men, six women and a girl child. Of the 23 injured persons, of whom nine were children, 20 were admitted to the Vaijapur Ghati Hospital and the remaining three were shifted to Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar Ghati Hospital ICU for treatment.

Jamadar said the driver of the minivan had not maintained sufficient distance between his vehicle and the truck, on account of which he did not get a chance to apply the brakes. “Our forensic teams did not find any tyre marks after application of brakes on the road,” she said.

Ministers Sandipan Bhumare and Atul Save visited the spot and supervised the relief operations after directions from CM Shinde. Save said the driver of the minibus was exhausted after driving for two nights.

Inputs from Megha Sood and Pradip Kumar Maitra