Three dead, two hurt as car lands on taxi on Eastern Freeway

MUMBAI: Three people were killed and two others were injured after a businessman lost control of his car at the Jijamata junction on the eastern freeway and landed

MUMBAI: Three people were killed and two others were injured after a businessman lost control of his car at the Jijamata junction on the eastern freeway and landed on a taxi in the opposite lane on Tuesday morning.

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Peak-hour traffic was thrown out of gear after the accident, particularly at south Mumbai, where a rally was organised against the demolition of Ambedkar Bhavan.

The RCF police said Abdul Hamid Sirwa, 48, a Mazagaon resident, was headed north towards the Panjarpol junction in his Innova when he lost control, jumped the divider and hit the taxi in the opposite lane. He died in the accident. The taxi driver, Nandlal Jaiswal, 46, and the passenger Vijay Kelkar, 48, died on the spot.

“The Innova crashed into the divider, broke the electricity pole, after which it was tossed up 12 to 15 feet in the air. It then flipped and landed on the taxi that was coming from the opposite direction,” said Shahji Umap, deputy commissioner of police, zone 6. In the impact, the taxi was pushed towards a divider, while the Innova crashed into a Swift Dzire car, injuring two Navi Mumbai residents, Mahesh Kuklekar, 38, and Ajay Jadhav, 33.

The accident left the cars so mangled, the fire brigade had to use gas cutters to remove the bodies.

The police said Sirwa was heading to Thane, where he owns an automobile workshop, while Kelkar, had hired the taxi from Thane to reach his workplace at Cuffe Parade.

The police said the roads had become slippery because of the incessant rain since early Tuesday. They have registered a case against Sirwa.

The Mumbai police’s twitter handle posted the picture of the mangled vehicles with a note that read, “These cars tell a story of irresponsibility & predictable outcome of such irresponsibilities #PleaseDriveResponsibly.”(sic).

Tuesday’s accident took place a just a few metres from where advocate Janhavi Gadkar, in an inebriated state last year, collided with a taxi, killing two and injuring four others.