MSRTC bus flips into ditch, two killed, 17 injured

Pune: A driver and a passenger of a Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus were killed, and 17 passengers sustained injuries, after the driver lost control of the wheel and veered off the road.

The bus flipped twice and fell into a ditch along the Nagar-Kalyan highway at Gunjalwadi village in Junnar taluka, about 90km from Pune, on Sunday evening.

The Ale Phata police have identified the bus driver as Mohammed Salim Mohammed Yusuf (40) of Amravati, and the deceased passenger as Prashant Honeshete (27) of Nanded. The injured passengers are currently being treated at a private hospital in Ale Phata.

An officer from the Ale Phata police station said that the MSRTC bus was travelling on the route between Ahilyanagar and Bhiwandi. The bus left Ahilyanagar around 3.30pm on Sunday and reached Gunjalwadi around 6.30pm. ”It was drizzling in the Gunjalwadi area. According to a passenger who lodged a complaint, the bus driver was driving at a high speed and overtaking other vehicles. While avoiding a collision with another vehicle, the driver lost control of the wheel and veered off the highway,” the officer said.

”The injured passengers were sent to a private hospital. We have registered a case of causing death by negligence in this regard,” he said. He said that the bus flipped twice and fell into a ditch along the highway. Locals rushed to the spot and rescued the injured passengers stuck inside the bus.

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