Four die in accident on expressway

Van rams into median,collides head-on with truck

Four persons from Mumbai were lost their lives after the van they were travelling in hit the median on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway and collided head-on with a truck on Thursday. The incident occurred around 5.50 am at Tungarli near Lonavala. Police suspect the driver of the speeding van lost control due to a tyre burst.

The Lonavala town police said the four friends Shirish Keshav Vichare (48) of Bandra,Naresh Shivram Katkar of Shivdi,Rajesh Ramlu (37) and Amitkumar Sharma (23) had come to Pune and were on the way back to Mumbai when the accident occurred. All four were electricians.

Investigating officer Vishwas Ambekar said: We have come to know that Vichare has a relative in Pune and all these friends had come with him to Pune. Vichare was driving the van.

Ambekar said the van was speeding. We suspect Vichare lost control of the vehicle after one of its tyres burst. The van broke the cement barrier of the median space and landed on the other side of the road. It collided with a truck coming from the opposite direction. All four sustained very serious injuries and died on the way to hospital.

The highway police have said in the past that at least 50 accidents take place every year in which speeding vehicles cross the median and collide with vehicles coming from the opposite direction.

During the recent Traffic Safety Week,Home Minister R R Patil had announced that the height of the median would be increased.

SP (State Highway) Dilip Bhujbal said: After the announcement,several meetings were conducted and a decision to install Brifen Ropes as dividers was taken. At present,these ropes have been installed on a 3-km stretch. This has prevented accidents to some extent. If these ropes are installed on the entire stretch of the expressway,we feel a lot of accidents will be averted.

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