12 of Pune family die in road mishap

The deceased have been identified as Santosh Baban Warkhade (45), Gauri Santosh Warkhade (16) and Dnyaneshwari Santosh Warkhade (14), all residents of Pirangut, Sachin Bharat Kedari (34), Nilam Sachin Kedari (28), Sanskruti Sachin Kedari (8), Sanidhya Sachin Kedari (nine months), Sahil Dilip Kedari (14), Bhavana Dilip Kedari (35), Shravani Dilip Kedari (11), Chhaya Dinesh Nangare (41), Pratik Dinesh Nangare (14), all residents of Balewadi Gaothan, and Mahesh Kuchekar of Hinjewadi, the driver.

Prajakta Dinesh Nangare (18), Manisha Santosh Warkhade (38) and Manda Bharat Kedari (54) were injured.

According to the police, Sachin Kedari ran a travel business in Pune and deceased Chhaya Nangare and injured Manisha Warkhade were his sisters.

In the early hours on Friday, 15 persons from the Kedari, Warkhede and Nangare families, left Pune for Ganpatipule for a ritual for Sanidhya. They visited the temple town and were returning to Pune when they died. Around 11.45 pm, when the bus was on Shivaji bridge, the driver is suspected to have lost control of the vehicle and it rammed into the railing of the bridge over Panchaganga. The barrier broke and the bus fell into the river, about hundred feet below.

Local residents rushed to the spot and little later, police teams also reached. The fire brigade and a team of “White Army” of Kolhapur-based activists joined in the rescue. With the help of boats, the bodies and the injured were fished out. Senior police officers, along with Chandrakant Patil, the guardian minister of the district and M P Dhananjay Mahadik visited the accident spot and said administrative help was being provided to the families.