8 killed as SUV plunges 700 feet into gorge at Ambenali Ghat in Maharashtra

NAVI MUMBAI: At least eight men from Satara district were killed after the SUV they were travelling in plunged nearly 700 feet into a gorge along the Ambenali Ghat on the Poladpur-Mahabaleshwar road in Raigad district shortly after midnight on Monday.

The victims were returning from a weekend picnic at Harnai beach in Ratnagiri district. Rescue operations are underway, with Poladpur police, local villagers, trekkers from Mahabaleshwar and Mahad, and rescue teams working to retrieve the bodies from the gorge.

Deceased are identified as Mahesh Anil Pawar (25), Aditya Ashok Salunkhe (21), Ritesh Rajendra Lokhande (25), Suhas Jitendra Lokhande (20),and Ansh Sameer Chavan (18), all residents of Asgaon, Satara district and Utkarsh Ananda Shingte (21) and Nikhil Abhimanyu Shingte (25), both from Marde, Satara and Sandeep Katkar (35), the SUV driver, a resident of Azadpur, Koregaon Taluka, Satara.