In yet another accident on the accident-prone Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway, at least seven people were killed and five others injured when two private cars collided on the expressway in Jalna district of Marathwada region of Maharashtra.
The accident took place near Kadwanchi village in Jalna district at around 11.30 pm on Friday when a Swift Dzire collided head-on with an Ertiga on way to Mumbai from Nagpur. The Swift Dzire car, which had entered the highway from the wrong side after refueling at a local petrol station, crashed into the Ertiga speeding towards Mumbai. The tragedy happened nearly 400 km away from Mumbai.
The impact of the collision was so severe that the Ertiga flew into the air and landed on the highway barricade. The passengers on board this car were thrown off the vehicle onto the road. The other car involved in the mishap was reduced to a mangled heap of metal.
While six persons died on the spot, another passenger later succumbed to injuries at a nearby hospital. The occupants of the Ertiga car came from a single family of Malad in north Mumbai. However, the antecedents of those who perished in the Swift are yet to be ascertained.
Those killed were identified as Faiyaz S Mansuri, Altamesh S. Mansuri and Faizal S Mansuri, all from Mumbai travelling by Ertiga car while the police identified Swift Dzire passengers killed in the mishap as Sandip M Budhant, Pradeep L Misal and Vilas S Kayande. One Chavan, who was behind the wheel of Swift Dzire was critically injured in the mishap.
The Samruddhi Expressway is a 701-kilometer six-lane highway that connects Mumbai and Nagpur. It may be recalled that the phase-I of Hindu HridaySamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg -better known as Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 11, 2022. There have been more than 1,300 mishaps on this expressway resulting in - involving nearly 150 deaths ever since it was thrown open to traffic on December 11, 2022. It may be recalled that in two mishaps on this expressway on October 15, 2023, at least 15 persons were killed and 23 others injured when a speeding mini tourist bus rammed into a stationary container at Vaijapur in Aurangabad district, while a car hit a road divider on the highway.
On May 26, 2023, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated the Phase-II of the expressway from Shirdi to Igatpuri in Nashik district, a distance of around 80 km.
At least 20 persons were killed and three others injured when a girder-launching crane collapsed at Shahapur in Thane district in the small hours of August 1, 2023.
The crane crash had come close on the heels of a gruesome tragedy that took place on July 1, 2023, when as many as 26 persons were charred to death and seven others suffered severe burn wounds when a private sleeper-coach AC luxury bus caught fire off the Pimpalkhuta village along the Samruddhi Expressway between Dusarbid and Sindkedraja in Buldhana district of eastern Maharashtra.
On their part, the Public Works Department (PWD) has underplayed the recurring mishaps.
