18 killed as truck overturns in Satara
PUNE: At least 18 people were killed and 19 others injured after a speeding truck carrying labourers and heavy equipment hit a barricade and overturned on the Pune-satara highway in Maharashtra early Tuesday morning, the police said.
The deceased, mostly construction workers from Bijapur district in Karnataka, were heading to Pune from Satara when the truck overturned around 4:30 am after the driver lost control. The travellers included around six minors, thirteen women and 18 men. Of them, two minors, six women and 10 men are dead.
“They all belonged to nearby areas in Tanda area of Bijapur in Karnataka and were travelling with labour contractor Vitthal Khiru Rathod, 40, and driver Mehboob Rajasab Atar, 55, both of whom died in the accident,” said a senior police official.
“It is quite apparent that had the driver made even a little bit of attempt to prevent the collision, he could have prevented the loss of lives. The safety wall along the road could have prevented the tempo from turning,” said Amol Tambe, superintendent of police (traffic), highway safety patrol. The spot where the accident occurred, around 70 kilometres from Pune, is a S-shaped curve combined with steep slope and is prone to accidents.
Following the incident, officials of the local police, highway safety police (HSP) and regional transport office (RTO) officials from Satara inspected the spot.
The injured were taken to Satara civil hospital and Jogeshwar hospital in Shirval. Three of the 16 were in critical condition while nine of them had suffered head injuries, Dr Ulka Zende, chief medical officer (CMO) said.
“At the turn on the spot, there is a slope. I suspect the driver lost control and drove into the safety wall along the slope. The tempo fell some 8-10 feet off the road,” said assistant police inspector Pravin Randive of highway police.
One of the labourers was following the tempo on a motorbike and saw the incident. “We are taking his statement for the complaint,” said assistant police inspector (API) Yuvraj Hande of Khandala police station under Satara police jurisdiction.
The bodies were sent for postmortem to Khandala rural hospital by the police. The police sent the bodies to their native place in four ambulances after a few people from their community identified the deceased.