1 dead, 6 injured after truck hits private bus from rear near new Katraj tunnel in Pune

PUNE: A truck driver was killed and six passengers on board a private bus were injured after the heavy vehicle carrying iron angles crashed into the bus from the rear near new Katraj tunnel viaduct around 4am on Tuesday, disrupting traffic on the Katraj-Dehu Road Bypass for nearly an hour.Police said the iron angles pierced the bus on impact, injuring passengers who were later admitted to a private hospital. Both vehicles were heading towards Mumbai from Satara. “The deceased truck driver has been identified as Sayyed Abbas Hussain (40) of Belagavi in Karnataka. The truck crashed into the bus with such force that all the window panes of the bus were shattered. Following the impact, the bus veered off the road and hit the road median,” an officer said.Senior inspector Sharad Zine of the Ambegaon police said the truck was loaded near Bengaluru. The Ambegaon police and officials of National Highways Authority of India cleared the damaged vehicles to the service lane to restore vehicular movement on the stretch.“Our team rushed the injured truck driver and bus passengers to a private hospital in Narhe. The bus passengers were discharged in the morning after receiving primary treatment,” Zine said, adding, “The truck driver, however, was declared dead.”The police suspect the driver might have lost control on the steep downhill stretch from the New Katraj Tunnel towards Navale Bridge, leading to the crash with the slow-moving bus.