13 killed as bus falls into 200ft gorge on old Mumbai-Pune highway

Thirteen people including four minors were killed and 29 injured after a private bus fell into a 200feetdeep gorge near Khopoli Raigad during the early hours of Saturday The bus hired by a Goregaonbased band Bajiprabhu Dhol Tasha Pathak was returning from a performance in PuneAccording to the police the incident occurred at around 4 am when the bus was taking a sharp turn A hikersrsquo group rushed to help the victims and saved many lives The Khopoli Police are in the process of registering the statements of the occupants of the busThe Bajiprabhu Dhol Tasha Pathak had been invited to perform at an event commemorating Dr Babasaheb Ambedkarrsquos birth anniversary and had departed from Mumbai for Pune on Friday morning After participating in the programme the team boarded a private bus for Mumbai on Friday nightAlso Read Illegal GMLR shops BMC gets last chance to show it acted or notBus took unsafe routeOne of the band members Omkar Jitendra Pawar wanted to get down at Khopoli due to which the bus took a route on the Old Mumbai Pune Highway According to the police heavy vehicles driving from Lonavla towards Khopoli have been prohibited at Anda PointMaharashtra CM Eknath Shinde meets injured at MGM Hospital Kamothe in Raigad on SaturdayThe road where the crash occurred is a oneway route with sharp turns It doesnrsquot have a security wall The Highway Police has written to the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation MSRDC and IRB Company which maintains the highway to install barricades at the site ldquoEight reminders have been sent between 2021 and 2023 but nothing has come of it yetrdquo a Highway Police source saidldquoWe are still investigating whether the driver lost control of the wheel due to the sharp turn or dozed off At the time of the incident almost all the passengers were asleeprdquo the official addedThe bus fell into the ghat just behind the Shingroba temple After the accident some of the injured persons came out and asked for help from passing vehicles Villagers nearby were alerted who also informed Shivdurga Mitra Lonavala a group of trekkers involved in rescue operations The trekkers helped pull out most of the injuredSunil Gaikwad secretary of Shivdurga Mitra Lonavala said that he along with 50 others from his team reached the spot around 430 am on Saturday ldquoWe set the ropes and started descending from the cliff As we got nearer we could hear cries for help When we reached we found several people bleeding The boys who sustained minor injuries were kept back and the severely injured were rushed aheadrdquo he said The rescue operation took seven hours to completeEighteen persons were transferred to MGM Hospital Kalamboli 10 were taken to Khopoli Nagarpalika Hospital and one person was taken to Jakhotia Hospital Khopoli for treatment Thirteen succumbed to their injuries including the driver Mahesh Pujari 35 Most of the deceased were between the age group of 12 and 26lsquoDriver was told to slow downrsquoAccording to the statements of the injured the driver had been driving rashly throughout the journey The passengers had requested him to drive slowlyWhen contacted Somnath Gharge Superintendent of Police Raigad said ldquoThe impact of the accident was such that only the frame of the bus remained We are in the process of registering the statements of the injured Most of them are still in a state of shockrdquoThe Khopoli Police has filed an FIR against the driver Mahesh Pujari He has been booked under IPC Sections 304A death due to negligence 279 rash driving 337 causing hurt by endangering life or personal safety of others and 338 causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others and relevant sections of the MV Act