10 die in mishap on Nagar road

PUNE: Ten persons, on their way from Chembur to Ahmednagar to attend their relative's funeral, were killed on the spot on Saturday morning after the sports utility vehicle (SUV) in which they were travelling collided with a truck on the Pune-Ahmednagar highway at Karegaon near Shirur, around 50 km from Pune.
The mishap, which happened at around 4.15 am, threw the highway traffic out of gear for over two hours as the police had to call a crane to remove the mangled SUV which had got stuck beneath the truck.
The Shirur police have identified the deceased as Santosh Kisan Gavli (28), his wife Swati (25) and son Omkar (2) all from Thane; Babaji Gangadhar Todkar (32) and his wife Nilam (30) from Chembur in Mumbai; Babaji's sister Phulabai Suresh Ghule (35), her daughter Rupali (10), Sushabai Pandhrinath Wable (38), Gangaram Shripat Lanke (50) all from Nighoj in Ahmednagar district and the driver Laxman Hari Kadam (42) of Vikhroli, Mumbai.
Speaking to TOI, inspector Madhav Shinde of the Shirur police station said the speeding SUV, which was heading towards Ahmednagar crossed the highway road divider and collided with a truck coming from the opposite direction.
"The impact of the accident was such that the SUV was completely crushed and all the passengers died on the spot," Shinde said.
"The police sought help from locals and the Ranjangaon MIDC fire brigade to remove the bodies from the SUV. We managed to remove the bodies of the six persons who were seated in the SUV's backseat," Shinde said.
"We then called a crane to remove the SUV, which was stuck beneath the truck. It was only after the SUV was removed we could cut the tin sheets with gas cutters to remove the remaining four bodies. It took us four hours to remove these bodies," Shinde said.
Shinde said the driver of the truck fled after the mishap. The truck was from Satara. The police are trying to contact the owner of the truck, he said.
"There is a sharp turn on the highway where the mishap took place. It looks like the driver of the SUV may have dozed off while driving and did not notice the turn. He drove straight over the divider and hit the truck," sub-divisional police officer M.R. Malegaonkar, of Daund division, told TOI.
"The deceased, Babaji Todkar, owned an ice factory located at Bhivandi. He used to supply ice to Colaba. Todkar and his relatives were on their way to Khamgaon Takali in Ahmednagar district in Laxman Kadam's SUV to attend the last rites of his niece, Sunita Pardhi," Malegaonkar added.