Four dead, 20 injured as bus hits container after tyre burst on Pune-Solapur highway

A private bus headed to Pune from Solapur suffered a tyre burst, veered off course and collided with a container on the roadside, around 5 am, the police said.

The front part of the bus was severely damaged. There were nearly 40 passengers in the bus and most of them were sleeping when the mishap took place.

Four of them who died have been identified as Nitin Dilip Shinde (36) of Hadapsar, Ganpat Patil (55) of Katraj, Amar Kalshetty (20) of Solapur and Arti Birajdar (25).

Inspector Hemant Shendge said four persons died in the accident, adding that one of the deceased, Nitin Shinde, was a policeman. He was attached to the crime branch of the Pune city police. Earlier, he worked at the Hadapsar police station for a few years. He was known to be a good athlete in the police department, the inspector added.

A team of Pune rural police rushed to the spot after the accident. The victims, including nearly 20 injured passengers, were taken to different hospitals. An FIR has been filed at Yavat police station. Further investigation is on.