7 dead as car crushed between two container trucks in Pune highway fire

Traffic on the Bengaluru-Mumbai carriageway of the highway was stopped due to the work of removing the gutted vehicles.

Seven persons were killed and more than a dozen were injured after a car got crushed between two large container trucks that caught fire on a bridge along the Mumbai-Bengaluru Highway in Pune city on Thursday evening, police said. The horrific incident took place on Navale Bridge, known as an accident-prone stretch.

Smoke billows as fire engulfs two large container trucks and a car after an accident on a bridge along the Mumbai-Bengaluru Highway.(PTI)

"As per preliminary information, a heavy container truck was going towards Mumbai. Its driver lost control due to a suspected brake failure on the bridge, and it hit a few vehicles in its way including a mini-bus before ramming into another big container. A car was caught between these two trucks and got crushed badly," Deputy Commissioner of Police Sambhaji Kadam said.

The impact triggered a huge fire and the three vehicles got engulfed in it, he said. Most of the injured were travelling in the minibus. Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar, who visited the spot, said, "The fire erupted due to the impact of the collision."

DNA tests would be required as the bodies of some of the victims were charred beyond recognition, said an official. Traffic on the Bengaluru-Mumbai carriageway of the highway was stopped and the work of removing the gutted vehicles was underway.

Eight fire tenders and tankers were rushed to the spot, a fire brigade official said. "When our personnel reached the spot, they found that a car was trapped between two big container trucks and a huge fire had erupted. The fire was doused. A total of seven charred bodies were retrieved -- two from a truck and five from the car which included two males, two females and a girl," said Devendra Potphode, Chief Fire Officer, Pune Municipal Corporation.

Officials suspect that the CNG kit in the car exploded following the impact which led to the fire. Municipal commissioner Naval Kishore Ram said the disaster management, fire department and medical teams of the Pune Municipal Corporation rushed to the site and conducted the rescue and relief operations.

"Ambulances, cranes and JCBs were deployed and the injured were shifted to hospitals," he said. In a statement, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis termed the accident as "tragic and painful", and announced ₹5 lakh ex-gratia to the next of kin of the deceased.