Maharashtra: Five killed in bus-tractor collision on Mumbai-Pune Expressway

A private luxury bus with over 50 passengers travelling from Dombivli to Pandharpur for a pilgrimage collided with a tractor on the MumbaiPune Expressway late at night The collision caused the bus to roll over twice crash through the railing and fall 10 metres into the valleyAt the time of the accident passengers were awake and singing bhajans but they were thrown into chaos as they fell on one another and were later rescued by locals and the policeTragically five people lost their livesmdashtwo from the tractor and three passengers from the bus The incident is under investigation to determine its cause and the Panvel city police have filed charges against the tractor driver while continuing their inquiryThe banged up bus Police help rescue the survivors The bus and tractorVivek Pansare deputy commissioner of police Panvel Division said ldquoThe incident occurred between 1230 am and 1245 am within the jurisdiction of the Panvel city police station The tractor was driven by 28yearold Parvez Salauddin Ahmed from Uttar Pradesh who was travelling in the first lane toward Pune despite being in a noentry zone Meanwhile Sanjay Patil 54 was driving the Jayshri Travel bus While attempting to overtake the tractor at a high speed the bus driver lost control and the vehicle rammed into the tractor from behind dragging it for about 100 feet and causing it to split in two The bus then crashed through a railing plunging 10 to 15 feet down and overturning onto its siderdquoThe two people on the tractor Parvez Salauddin Ahmed and the other unknown person died on the spotldquoThree of the passengers in the busmdashGurunath Babu Patil 70 Ramdas Narayan Mukadam 70 and Hansabai Hari Patil died on the spot While the other injured include Baburao Dharma Bhoir 70 Mama Pogaya Bhoir 70 Ganpat Jogya Mukadam 70 Sanjay Bapurao Patil 63 and Suman Salunkhe 60 suffered serious injuries and 38 people suffered minor injuries and five passengers are safe without treatmentrdquo said an officialSurvivors and witnessesA survivor Satyavan Krishna Gaikar 55 shared his experience after changing buses at a petrol pump a few kilometres away ldquoFor over 25 years wersquove been traveling to Pandharpur for Ekadashi Typically three to four buses leave from Dombivlis Gesar Gaon We met at 8 pm and departed at 11 pm I was initially on the bus that met with the accident This tradition has been passed down through generationsrdquoldquoOn Monday we left Dombivli and stopped at a petrol pump in Dahisar near Shilphata where about 10 to 12 people were waiting to board We put up banners and performed a puja to bless the journey I had left my tiffin with chapatis on another bus so I went there instead After getting onto the expressway we noticed a bus had overturned Realising it was our own people we stopped to assist with the rescue operationrdquo he addedDayanand Bhoir a survivor seated at the front of the bus said ldquoAfter refuelling we started singing bhajans Suddenly the bus collided with a tractor ahead As the bhajans played all passengers were awake and we fell on each other The bus moving slowly turned over into the valley Four or five people fell on me and I screamed to get out Once they stood up we escaped through the broken front glass Thankfully we were safe as we had sung bhajansrdquoGurunath Sathelkar from the Help Foundation who arrived with 20 to 25 people for the rescue operation said ldquoWe received a call around 1254 am and quickly reached the scene We rescued most passengers removed two bodies from the bus and transported the survivors to MGM HospitalrdquoThe Panvel City police have booked the tractor driver under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nayaya Sanhita BNS 2023 and Motor Vehicles Act They told midday that the investigation into the mishap is underway50Total No of passengers in the bus