Police said Swapnil Pandit Kendale (24) of Kandivli in Mumbai and his two relatives, Leena Raju Nikase and Tejas Raju Nikase (23), both residents of the Dandekar bridge area here, traveling in the car were killed. The two other victims were Vitthal Popat Hingade (38) and his wife, Reshma (35) of Vasunde village in Parner taluka of Ahmednagar district, They were astride one of the two motorcycles.
The injured were identified as Siddharth Sanjay Kendale (18) of Dhayari, Asha Nikase, Raju Nikase, both residents of the Dandekar bridge area, and Rohan Uttam Barvekar of Shirur. They are recovering at a hospital in Shirur, the police said.
The truck, belonging to a Talegaon Dhamdere-based transporter, was heading towards Ahmednagar after offloading sugar cane in Pune district, the police said, adding that prima facie its driver seemed to have lost control over the wheels, as the heavy vehicle hit the divider before jumping over to the wrong side of the highway.
The truck driver ran away by abandoning the vehicle and a search was on for him. Assistant inspector Ranjit Pathare of the Shikrapur police told TOI, “The truck was speeding towards Ahmednagar from Pune. Its driver lost control over the wheel, as the truck hit the road divider and jumped to the other side of the highway, hitting the car and the two-wheelers. The car had six passengers.”
He said, “The car passengers were related to each other as part of a larger family. They had gone to Ahmednagar to attend a wedding ceremony. They were returning to Pune when the accident occurred. The husband-wife on one of the motorcycles were farmers from Ahmednagar and headed for Pune for some work.
The truck belongs to a transporter from Talegaon Dhamdhere on Ahmednagar highway. “The truck had gone to the Pune city area and after unloading sugar cane, it was traveling back to Talegaon Dhamdhere. We are yet to arrest the driver. He left the vehicle and ran away,” Pathare said.
The entire accident was captured by a CCTV camera of a commercial establishment on the highway.
“We can ascertain the exact cause of the accident after the arrest of the truck driver,” the officer said, adding that RTO officials would inspect the truck for any mechanical fault.
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