Pune, March 03: Four people were killed and 13 injured when a speeding car hit a jeep while trying to overtake a Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus in the wee hours on Wednesday. The accident occurred near Lonavla, on the old Pune-Mumbai National Highway-4.
The deceased have been identified as Baban Mahdu Thube, 50, of Bhor (jeep driver), Shrirang Vitthal Chavan, 50, and his wife Mangala Shrirang Chavan, 47, of Karad and Dattareya Hole of Rajgurunagar.
The Lonavla police said while the bus and the car were travelling to Mumbai, the jeep was on its way to Pune from Mumbai.
When the bus reached Rainbow Retreat Hotel near Lonavla, the driver of the car, whose identity is yet to be established, tried to overtake the bus.
“Both the vehicles were at high speed and the car driver lost control of the vehicle and hit the side of the bus. Due to the strong impact, the car collided head-on with the jeep coming from the opposite direction,” sub-inspector Baban Yedge of Lonavla police station told DNA.
The jeep was carrying five passengers, Yedge said, and added that after hitting the car, the jeep driver and Shrirang Chavan died on the spot.
The other injured passengers were rushed to Lokmanya Hospital in Chinchwad, where Mangala Chavan and Hole succumbed to injuries. The lone passenger travelling in the car was also injured.
–Agencies