5 friends die after tempo hits their broken-down van on Mumbai-Pune Expressway

The van had broken down near Panvel and they were pushing it to a garage when the tempo driver crashed into them from behind, officials said

Five of a group of eight friends from Mumbai, travelling to Pune for a wedding, were killed when a tempo crashed into them on Mumbai-Pune Expressway near Panvel, after their van broke down and they were pushing it to a garage early Monday morning.

The Omni the friends were travelling in.(Bachchan Kumar)

All the deceased are residents of Mankhurd.

The accident occurred around 5am near Adai village. “The friends were travelling from Mankhurd to Pune for a wedding. Their Omni van broke down a few kilometres ahead of Kalamboli, on the Expressway. They were pushing the vehicle to take it to a garage. As they got near Adai, a speeding tempo came from behind and crashed into the Omni,” said an official from Kamothe police station, who did not wish to be named.

While three were killed on the spot, two others passed away after being rushed to MGM hospital in Kamothe, the official added. The deceased have been identified as Santosh Prajapati, 40, Rashid Khan, 24, Juman Shaikh, 45, Dinesh Jaiswal, 30, and Ayodhya Yadav, 26.

One of the injured, Ramchandra Yadav, has been admitted to MGM hospital.

Two others — Sanjay Rajbhar, 28, and Mundrika Jaiswal, 36 — escaped unhurt as they were walking ahead, some distance away from the van.

The tempo driver fled from the spot after the accident.