Family on its way to funeral narrowly escapes death

Highways are fast becoming accident central in the country. In yet another vehicular accident on the road, eight persons were left injured, after their car toppled off the highway around 5 am on Tuesday.

The incident occurred in Shirwal, a town in Satara district. The injured, all men, were on their way to Kolhapur to attend a relative's funeral, when a car rammed into their Innova, causing it to lose its balance.

Lucky escape: Balu Bamane and his relatives are currently recuperating at Sion Hospital

Balu Bamane (55), one of the victims and a resident of Bandra, said, "Most of us were asleep at the time. A white car rammed into our vehicle. Our car turned turtle and fell off the road. We narrowly missed a ditch."

Police officials rushed all of them to a civil hospital nearby, after which they were shifted to the civic-run Sion Hospital. While two men, Sanjay Ataram (30) and Rajaram Jadhav (31), sustained fractures, the others managed to escape with minor injuries and blunt trauma, said Dr Avinash Supe, dean of the hospital.

Jadhav was admitted to the ICU with multiple fractures. However, doctors at the hospital reported that that his condition was stable. "The other patient, who sustained a hip fracture, underwent an operation last morning. His condition is also stable," added Dr Supe.

Bamane added that they had been on their way to perform the last rites of Ataram's mother, which were scheduled for 7.30 am yesterday. Sadly, the accident took place barely two hours earlier.

Speaking to MiD DAY, an official from the traffic control room said, "The local police in Shirwal are yet to record the statements of the accident victims, as they were immediately shifted to a Mumbai hospital for further treatment. It appears to be a hit-and-run case, as the police officials found that the car had fallen off the highway. No arrests have been made so far, and efforts will be made to record the statements."

E-way accident
Traffic on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway was affected for more than three hours after a container headed for Mumbai turned turtle after hitting a stationary car near Borghat. While the driver of the container sustained minor injuries, the car was said to be unoccupied at the time of the mishap. u00a0