Pune Navale Bridge accident | ‘Lucky to be alive’: Families recall terrifying crash

Sayyad says they are just coming to terms with what has happened. “We were very close to our uncle and decided to travel together to Patan in Satara in a mini bus to pay our last respects. We reached on Tuesday and were on our way back when this terrible accident took place,” Sayyad said. He recalled how they had to wait as people came and helped them out of the bus.

“My brother’s wife Zuleikha Sayyad has been injured and admitted to Sassoon hospital along with their daughter Saima and another relative. Another three are admitted to Moshi hospital,” Sayyad said.
Zulekha said she was asleep and woke up after hearing a loud noise. “People were screaming and I did not know what had happened and realised that the vehicle had overturned.”

Zuleikha and her daughter Saima were admitted to hospital after the accident at night. Zuleikha has an injury on her forehead. She said her daughter was badly injured on her foot and the two of them were brought to the hospital in a private vehicle. “My sister in law’s husband’s injury was a bit more serious so he was taken to another hospital that was nearby. But after the accident I do not have updates on my relatives’ condition as I don’t even have a phone with me,” she said.

Dr Yellappa Jadhav, medical superintendent, Sassoon General Hospital, told The Indian Express that the nine-year-old girl Saima had a left foot avulsion injury but was stable. Her mother Zulekha, 34, had injury to her head and right side on the chest. She too was stable, he said adding that another relative Amjad Sayyad had trauma to the ear but was stable. “The patients have decided to be discharged against medical advice,” he said.

At Moshi hospital, the family is also worried about three other members who have been hospitalised with fractures and head injury. Ramjuddin Sayyad said that his brother’s eight-year-old daughter was admitted and being treated for a leg fracture. “My sister’s husband has also been hospitalised along with another relative,” he said, adding that three relatives who were admitted to Sassoon would also be brought to Moshi as the family stays at Nigdi.

Meanwhile relatives of another elderly couple who were returning from Saswad to Pune and were hit by the tanker said that they were fortunate to escape without severe injuries. The driver of the car was also unhurt and according to one of the relatives there were some Good Samaritans who immediately attended to the passengers inside the car. “We are grateful that they immediately assisted the couple instead of shooting videos of the accident,” one relative added.