2 dead as container hits bus on expressway

PUNE: Two persons were killed and one seriously injured when a speeding container hit them while they were loading and unloading goods from a luxury bus at Kusgaonwadi near Lonavla on the Mumbai-pune expressway on Monday night. According to the highway police, the accident took place near Sinhagad college when the unidentified four-wheeler hit the victims while they were loading chikki (peanut brittle) in a private bus on the service road at 10.30 pm.

The deceased have been identified as Narayan Gund, 35, a resident of Kusgaon Budruk, and the bus cleaner identified as Vaibhav Vijay Pendulkar, 40, of Vadgaon Budruk. The injured has been identified as Haribhau Shivram Kale, 35, a resident of Kusgaon Budruk. Kale is recuperating at a private hospital in Nigdi area.

The private bus was on its way to Pune from Mumbai and the driver had halted it near IRB office service road near Sinhagad college to load and unload goods.

Gund and Kale were loading chikki in the bus, while Pendulkar was signalling incoming vehicles to keep distance from their stationary bus. However, a speeding container hit Pendulkar before ramming into the bus and killing Pendulkar and Gund on the spot, and leaving Kale critically injured, the police said.

A case of negligence has been lodged against the bus driver Mahendra Baijnath Singh, 45, a resident of Wadala, for halting the vehicle on service road, and rash and negligent driving case has been filed against the unidentified container driver who is absconding.