1 dead, 13 hurt after vehicle overturns at Dive Ghat on Pune-Saswad Road

Officials from Loni Kalbhor police station of Pune City police said the accident took place around 8 am when the tempo, ferrying a group of labourers and construction material from Saswad to Hadapsar, turned on its side while negotiating a turn at Dive ghat, around 20 kilometers from Pune City.

Teams from fire brigades of Pune City and Pune Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (PMRDA) were deployed for the rescue. Local citizens and the fire brigade rushed the injured to a hospital in Saswad. Police said at least 17 labourers were travelling in the vehicle.

Senior Inspector Dattatray Chavan, in-charge of Loni Kalbhor police station, said, “The tempo was taking a group of labourers to Bhekrai Nagar in Hadapsar where they have been working at a construction site. 14 persons sustained injuries, two are critically injured while 12 others have minor injuries. We are investigating.”

Assistant Inspector Jitendra Khairnar, from Loni Kalbhor police station, said, “One of two persons with grievous injuries — Chhotu Billu Kol (23), of Jabalpur district in Madhya Pradesh — has died. Most labourers are migrant workers who have moved to Pune from outside the state.”

Khairnar said that officers from Saswad police station have recorded the statements of the injured. “We are registering a case against the driver, who is among the injured. He will be called for questioning after the FIR is registered.”

When asked whether negligence on the part of the contractor will be investigated as safety had been compromised in the way construction material was loaded into the truck along with the heavy metal bars, Khairnar said, “We will question the driver and record statements of the labourers in this regard.” As of now, he said, the driver has been named as accused in the case.