Mahad tragedy: Husband decided travel was a bad idea, but wife ignored signs

It was raining so hard that trains were running late because of landslides, so she took the ill-fated bus that plunged into the Savitri river after the bridge collapsed on Mumbai-Goa highway

Grieving over her father’s demise and in a hurry to return home to Santacruz, 27-year-old Bhumi Patekar was too distracted to pay heed to the signs that the universe had sent her, warning her to stay home. Instead, she made the fatal decision of boarding the ST bus that fell into the Savitri river on Tuesday night.

Also read - Mahad bridge collapse: Half our family is lost, say victims' kin

Bhushan Patekar and his mother wait for some news of Bhumi

When they heard of her father’s death, Bhumi had gone to Jaigad along with her sister Sneha and her sister’s husband Sunil Baikar and a cousin brother Aneesh Balekar. Bhumi’s husband Bhushan (28) decided to go visit his village as well, which is farther away from Jaigad.

“I left Mumbai along with my wife. I went to Vaibhavwadi to meet my mother and we had decided that she would meet me at Ratnagiri station on Tuesday night, and we would take a train home together,” said Bhushan.

Bad omen
It had been raining incessantly, and on Tuesday evening, when Bhushan called his wife, she told him there were rumours of a landslide near Ratnagiri. “She said that it was raining heavily and trains were running late because of some landslide near Ratnagiri. She said she was taking an ST bus with her sister,” recalled Bhushan.

But Bhushan’s mother told him to avoid travelling in such heavy downpour. By the time, Bhushan called Bhumi to tell her to stay home as well, she had already boarded the bus. “We never thought that such a big tragedy would happen,” said his mother, Madhuri.

More than a day after the bus fell into the river, Bhushan and his mother are still at the spot, waiting for some news of Bhumi, even as Sneha and Aneesh’s bodies were fished out last evening.

Bhumi’s brother Deepak Balekar, said, “At 8 pm, I received a call from my sister, saying they had reached Sagmeshwar. Later in morning, we heard the news about the bridge. When we tried contacting them, none of them were reachable. It is a big tragedy. All the relatives have waiting at the spot, but there is still no sign of them.”

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