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NAVI MUMBAI/MUMBAI: Thirteen youngsters, most of them musicians of a dhol tasha band from Goregaon, died and 29 others were injured after a private bus carrying 42 passengers fell nearly 500 feet down a steep hill on the old Mumbai-Pune highway at Khopoli around 4 am on Saturday. The youngest victim was an eight-year-old boy on his maiden trip outside the city for a performance.
The 13 deceased included nine from Goregaon, two from Malad and one each from Mahim and Chembur. Three victims were female.
The bus had been hired by the band party, and most of the passengers were young boys and girls who play the traditional musical instruments, dhol and tasha, at festivals. The Bajiprabhu Dhol Tasha Pathak or band was led by one Satish Dhumal (23), who also died in the mishap. The bus was returning to Goregaon from an event near Pimpri-Chinchwad in Pune, where the artistes had gone to play dhol tasha for Ambedkar Jayanti celebrations on April 14.
Police said the bus driver Mahesh Pujari (35) had taken a wrong and illegal exit from the Mumbai-Pune Expressway to go to the old Mumbai-Pune highway to drop two members of the group in Khopoli township. Pujari lost control at an S-shaped sloping incline, causing the bus to fall down the hill. He too was killed. It was a challenging task to pull out the bodies and the injured persons from the crash site, and police had to take the help of trekkers.
CM Eknath Shinde visited the site of the crash and met the injured in hospital. He announced Rs 5 lakh ex gratia for relatives of the deceased and said the state would bear the medical expenses of those injured. PM Narendra Modi declared Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia from the Pradhan Mantri National Relief Fund for the families of those who were killed.
The injured were admitted to MGM Hospital in Kamothe. Its director Dr Kuldip Salgotra said, “Most of the victims have sustained head or pelvic fractures, and spine injuries.” Nine out of the 13 dead were those who played music in the band based in Santosh Nagar, Goregaon East. Most were from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
The parents of eight-year-old Veer Mandavkar, the youngest player, who was killed too, had been awaiting his return from his first trip out of Mumbai for a performance. The stunned family rushed to Khopoli on learning of the disaster.
The band’s founder Satish Dhumal, 23, and his brother Swapnil, 17, both died. Young Aniket Jagtap, whose mother Chitra Sanjay Jagtap owns Sai Shree/Sukhkarta travel agency that plied the private bus, also died. Chitra told TOI after reaching Khopoli, “I cannot manage to speak. My son was on the bus.”
Goregaon collegian Kartik Barot (19) was among the survivors. He said, “The parade in which our band participated near Pimpri- Chinchwad was completed between Sudarshan Chowk and a little after the Dr Ambedkar statue at Pimpri-Chinchwad at 11.30 pm. All were sleeping in the bus, while I and Harsh Dhuri (19) were awake. The bus (with 40 of our group and two drivers) was speeding and suddenly fell down.”
Barot added, “While I was trying to help the victims from one side, a few others were pulling my legs for help. It was dark, but upon hearing the siren of police vehicles, survivors screamed for help. That helped the police and rescuers reached us fast. They used ropes and stretchers to rush the victims to hospital.”
Kandivli resident Bhagyashree Dhuri, the mother of one of the survivors, Harsh, said, “My son informed me about the crash over a video call. He was feeling dizzy and has sustained injuries on his head and leg. He tried to help his friends.”
Injured Roshan Shelar’s (17) father Arvind said, “Roshan has been with the troupe for 3 years and had performed in Kolhapur, Rajasthan and Mumbai while studying commerce. He has injuries on his leg, eye, head and back.” The bus driver has been booked for causing death by negligent and rash driving under sections of the Indian Penal Code and under the Motor Vehicles Act. Khopoli police inspector Shirish Pawar said, “The driver took the wrong turn to drop two occupants – Omkar Pawar and Sunny Raghav – who are Khopoli residents.”
Watch Maharashtra: Dy CM Devendra Fadanvis expresses grief over deaths in Raigad bus accident, promises help
The 13 deceased included nine from Goregaon, two from Malad and one each from Mahim and Chembur. Three victims were female.
The bus had been hired by the band party, and most of the passengers were young boys and girls who play the traditional musical instruments, dhol and tasha, at festivals. The Bajiprabhu Dhol Tasha Pathak or band was led by one Satish Dhumal (23), who also died in the mishap. The bus was returning to Goregaon from an event near Pimpri-Chinchwad in Pune, where the artistes had gone to play dhol tasha for Ambedkar Jayanti celebrations on April 14.
Police said the bus driver Mahesh Pujari (35) had taken a wrong and illegal exit from the Mumbai-Pune Expressway to go to the old Mumbai-Pune highway to drop two members of the group in Khopoli township. Pujari lost control at an S-shaped sloping incline, causing the bus to fall down the hill. He too was killed. It was a challenging task to pull out the bodies and the injured persons from the crash site, and police had to take the help of trekkers.
CM Eknath Shinde visited the site of the crash and met the injured in hospital. He announced Rs 5 lakh ex gratia for relatives of the deceased and said the state would bear the medical expenses of those injured. PM Narendra Modi declared Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia from the Pradhan Mantri National Relief Fund for the families of those who were killed.
The injured were admitted to MGM Hospital in Kamothe. Its director Dr Kuldip Salgotra said, “Most of the victims have sustained head or pelvic fractures, and spine injuries.” Nine out of the 13 dead were those who played music in the band based in Santosh Nagar, Goregaon East. Most were from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
The parents of eight-year-old Veer Mandavkar, the youngest player, who was killed too, had been awaiting his return from his first trip out of Mumbai for a performance. The stunned family rushed to Khopoli on learning of the disaster.
The band’s founder Satish Dhumal, 23, and his brother Swapnil, 17, both died. Young Aniket Jagtap, whose mother Chitra Sanjay Jagtap owns Sai Shree/Sukhkarta travel agency that plied the private bus, also died. Chitra told TOI after reaching Khopoli, “I cannot manage to speak. My son was on the bus.”
Goregaon collegian Kartik Barot (19) was among the survivors. He said, “The parade in which our band participated near Pimpri- Chinchwad was completed between Sudarshan Chowk and a little after the Dr Ambedkar statue at Pimpri-Chinchwad at 11.30 pm. All were sleeping in the bus, while I and Harsh Dhuri (19) were awake. The bus (with 40 of our group and two drivers) was speeding and suddenly fell down.”
Barot added, “While I was trying to help the victims from one side, a few others were pulling my legs for help. It was dark, but upon hearing the siren of police vehicles, survivors screamed for help. That helped the police and rescuers reached us fast. They used ropes and stretchers to rush the victims to hospital.”
Kandivli resident Bhagyashree Dhuri, the mother of one of the survivors, Harsh, said, “My son informed me about the crash over a video call. He was feeling dizzy and has sustained injuries on his head and leg. He tried to help his friends.”
Injured Roshan Shelar’s (17) father Arvind said, “Roshan has been with the troupe for 3 years and had performed in Kolhapur, Rajasthan and Mumbai while studying commerce. He has injuries on his leg, eye, head and back.” The bus driver has been booked for causing death by negligent and rash driving under sections of the Indian Penal Code and under the Motor Vehicles Act. Khopoli police inspector Shirish Pawar said, “The driver took the wrong turn to drop two occupants – Omkar Pawar and Sunny Raghav – who are Khopoli residents.”
Watch Maharashtra: Dy CM Devendra Fadanvis expresses grief over deaths in Raigad bus accident, promises help
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