Highways claim 6 lives

PUNE, Feb 14: Six persons lost their lives in three separate accidents on Saturday night. Three others sustained injuries in the accident...

PUNE, Feb 14: Six persons lost their lives in three separate accidents on Saturday night. Three others sustained injuries in the accidents which occurred on Pune-Mumbai and Pune-Nagar highways.

In a head-on collision between two goods trucks on Pune-Mumbai highway at Nashik Phata around 11.45 pm yesterday the drivers of both the vehicles died on the spot while their two cleaners were injured.

The deceased have been identified as Basawraj Chandappa Mandale 30 from Bidar Karnataka and Rajendra Bapurao Kamthe 27 from Panwadi, Purandar taluka. The injured are Mohammed, Shabbeer Tekdewala 35 from Bidar and Dnyanoba Ubale 35 from Jejuri. Both are undergoing treatment at Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital in Pimpri, the police said.

Mandale, driving a truck carrying cement, was heading towards Mumbai. At Nashik Phata near Sagar Complex, he lost control over the vehicle, which broke the road divider and collided head-on with another truck approaching from the opposite direction.

The impact of collision was so great that both the trucks were damaged beyond repair. The traffic on the highway was thrown off gear for several hours, this morning. The situation returned to normal only after the debris of the two trucks were removed by afternoon.

In another accident two pedestrians lost their lives and one person was injured when they were hit by a motorcycle on the Pune-Nagar road. The incident occurred around 8.15 pm yesterday near Chandannagar.

The deceased have been identified as Baba Sambhaji Rokde 17 of Lakshminagar, Yerwada and Memboob Mohammed Shaikh 45 of Kasba Peth, Kumbharwada. Jhonny alias Basavraj Narsappa Ghat 25 a resident of Somwar Peth has been injured.

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According to police, thevictims were employed as labourers at a factory in Chandannagar. The incident occurred when they returning home after finishing their work for the day. The motorcycle rider Raghunath Janglu Gunjal 38 of Kedgaon, Nagar has been arrested. In the third fatal accident, a man and his nephew riding on a scooter were run over by a speeding truck on Moshi-Chikhli Road late yesterday evening.

According to police, Sharad Ramchandra Tembre 22 and his nephew Ganesh 10 both residents of Moshi, were heading towards Malwadi-Dehu to invite one of their relatives for their village jatra when they were hit by the truck near Kudalwadi Phata on the Moshi-Chikhli road. The truck driver is absconding.

Tembre was employed on temporary basis in a private company at Bhosari, the police said.