One killed, 12 injured after trailer rams into bus

The owner of a luxury bus was reportedly killed and 12 people were injured after a trailer rammed into the bus from behind on Mumbai-Pune Expressway at Dheku village in Khopoli on Monday. The deceased was identified as Yadnesh Deepak Sawant, 27, of Dombivli

Navi Mumbai: The owner of a luxury bus was reportedly killed and 12 people were injured after a trailer rammed into the bus from behind on Mumbai-Pune Expressway at Dheku village in Khopoli on Monday.

One killed, 12 injured after trailer rams into bus

The deceased was identified as Yadnesh Deepak Sawant, 27, of Dombivli.

The accident happened at around 7 am when about 35 passengers, all residents of Dombivli and Vasind in Shahapur, were returning after casting their vote in the gram panchayat elections in Sindhudurg.

After the collision, the bus hit another trailer ahead of it. The impact of the collision was such that Sawant fell out of the vehicle and was run over by the same trailer that hit the bus, according to the police. Sawant was rushed to a hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.

“Sawant was seated next to the driver. His brother in Sindhudurg contested the gram panchayat election and he had joined the group on the return journey. His family is at Sindhudurg and I would be completing the police formalities and will take his body to his hometown,” Gaurav Kabre, 36, the cleaner of the bus, said. Kabre sustained injuries on both legs and got stitches.

Sawant was unmarried and operated a tours and travels business from Dombivali. The bus damaged in the mishap was the only one he owned, while the other buses in the fleet were jointly owned with a partner.

According to the police, all passengers originally hailed from Malvan in Sindhudurg and had travelled to their hometown to attend a marriage and cast their votes in the polls. The group had left from Sindhudurg on Sunday evening. Of the injured, three were admitted to MGM Hospital in Kamothe and nine at Khopoli Municipal Hospital. Few others received first aid treatment at the spot.

After the accident, the trailer driver abandoned the vehicle and fled from the spot. He was booked under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Motor Vehicle Act for rash driving and causing death by negligence.