5 killed as bus rams into truck on Pune-Ahmednagar highway

Officials said the bus had started from Aurangabad was heading towards Pune when the accident took place at Wadegavhan village in Parner taluk of Ahmednagar district.

At least five people, including the driver, were killed and 10 to 12 others injured after a private bus they were travelling in rammed into a stationary truck on Pune-Ahmednagar highway on Monday morning, police said.

At least five people were killed and 10 to 12 others injured after the private bus they were travelling in rammed into a truck on Pune-Ahmednagar highway on Monday morning, police said.(HT Photo)

Officials said the bus, belonging to Bhavana Travels, had started from Aurangabad was heading towards Pune when the accident took place at Wadegavhan village in Parner taluk of Ahmednagar district. The truck had a punctured tyre and was standing on the side of the road when the bus ran into it, they said.

“… I spoke to a man (a survivor) called Akash Baban Pharte, 20, who was sitting in the driver’s cabin. He got thrown out of the bus after it hit the truck so he survived. He said that the driver fell asleep at the wheel around 5:20am when the incident happened,” Ahmednagar deputy superintendent of police Arun Jagtap said.

The driver of the bus was identified as Shaikh Amjad Mohammad and a passenger as Pramod More. Three bodies are yet to be unidentified, including that of a child and two men.

Sub-inspector of police Sanjay Sone of Supa police station said the injured were taken to a government hospital in Shirur.

“A few of the injured people’s relatives showed up and shifted them to private hospitals. We are still tracking their whereabouts. The priority was to get them to hospitals and clear the traffic on the highway,” Sone said.

“We have been clearing traffic in the area since the incident occurred. Multiple teams have been dispatched with the deceased, who have been taken to Parner rural hospital, and the injured who have been taken to Shirur,” senior police inspector Bhosale of Supa police station said.

Senior officials from Ahmednagar Police visited the spot and deployed various teams so that the dead and injured could be taken to hospitals and for traffic management.

A case will be registered at Supa police station under Parner division of Ahmednagar Police.