Nashik bus accident: Survivor says driver was over-speeding

Ten persons were killed and at least 22 others injured most of them workers of a packaging firm and their families after a private tourist bus on way to the temple town of Shirdi collided with a truck in Maharashtras Nashik district on Friday morning police officials saidThe impact of the crash was so powerful that both the vehicles were completely wrecked While the front cabin of the truck was a mangled heap the bus was virtually cut open along one side and reduced to a shellMany of the passengers of the private tourist bus were workers of a company located in Ambernath in Thane district and heading for the temple town of Shirdi in western Maharashtras Ahmednagar district with their families the officials saidThe deceased included a couple a motherdaughter duo and a teen aged girlAt least six of the deceased were from Morivali village in Ambernath tehsil said a local officialThe accident took place around 6 am on NashikAhmednagar road near Pathare Shivar village in north Maharashtras Nashik districts Sinnar tehsil around 180km from Mumbai the officials saidAs per state highway control room officials one side of the twolane SinnarShirdi stretch of the road had been closed for some work near the accident spotSajid Khan a survivor said the bus was overspeeding and the driver fled the spot after the accidentMore than 50 passengers including workers of the private company and their family members were travelling in the bus said Khan who was sitting on the last rowThe bus driver was driving at a very high speed and lost control over the wheels leading to the collision with the truck he saidAfter the crash the bus toppled and kept sliding for a few metres before coming to a halt Khan saidThe bus started journey from Ambernath and the driver was driving decently till Ulhasnagar located on Mumbais outskirts he saidAll was going well till 5 am but then the bus collided with the truck shortly after 6 am said the survivorIn Photos 10 killed 22 injured as bus collides with truck in NashikPrime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the loss of lives in the crash and announced an exgratia of Rs 2 lakh from the PM National Relief Fund to the nextofkin of each deceased The injured would be given Rs 50000 each the PMO tweetedMaharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in a tweet expressed grief over the incident and separately announced financial help of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of the deceased while ordering an inquiry into the cause of the accidentA list published by the district administration said all the deceased were from Ambernath in Thane districtThe administration gave the names of the deceased as Naresh Manohar Ubale 38 Vaishali Naresh Ubale 32 couple Shravani Suhas Baraskar 30 Shraddha Suhas Baraskar 4 motherdaughter duo Pramila Prakash Gondhali 45 Balaji Krishna Mohati 25 Diksha Santosh Gondhali 18 Ayushaman alias Sai Prashant Mohati 5 and Roshni Rajesh Wadekar 30 A 15yearold girl is yet to be identifiedThe injured were taken to the Government Rural Hospital and Yashwant Hospital in SinnarChief Minister Shinde said the state government will bear expenses of the treatment of the injured persons a statement from his office saidShinde spoke to the Nashik divisional commissioner and asked him to shift the injured immediately to Nashik and Shirdi for treatment and also conduct an inquiry into the causes of the accident it addedNashik guardian minister Dada Bhuse met some of the injured persons undergoing treatment at various private hospitals in Sinnar and also spoke to their relativesTalking to reporters after meeting the victims Bhuse said iquestA packaging company based in Ambernath had organised the Shirdi trip for its employees and arranged 15 buses one of which met with the accident for the tripHe said that the state government will bear all medical expenses of the injured victimsAfter a recent accident on the NashikAurangabad highway which had claimed 13 lives and injured many the authorities are working to identify accidentprone areas in the city and the north Maharashtra district the guardian minister saidAlso Read 10 dead as bus collides with truck in Maharashtras Nashik districtThe injured persons were admitted to three private hospitals while those with minor wounds were discharged from Sinnar Rural Hospital after treatmentAmbernath tehsildar Prashanti Mane told PTI that six of of the deceased were residents of Morivali villageAll of them worked as packers at Balaji Packing Company and it was a tradition with the company employees to arrange tours to pilgrimage sites every year she saidA pall of gloom descended on the village as news of the tragedy cameLocal MLA Balaji Kinnikar visited the village and assured that government will extend all help to the victims familiesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the 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