Veteran actress Shabana Azmi and her driver were injured when the car in which they were travelling rammed into a truck near near Khalapur toll-plaza on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway on late Saturday afternoon.
They were initially admitted to Mahatma Gandhi Mission Medical College & Hospital (MGM-MCH) at Kamothe, in Navi Mumbai, for treatment. Later in the evening, they were shifted to the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital (KDAH) at Andheri in north Mumbai for further treatment.
“She (Shabana) has suffered injuries in the head, neck and cervical spine, face and right eye. She was conscious and speaking and her vital parameters were normal. There are no abdominal injuries. We have taken x-rays, done a CT scan, ultrasound and conducted other tests on her,” MGM-MCH Medical Superintendent Dr. (Lt.Gen.) K. R. Salgotra said.
Police said that Shabana and Javed Akhtar were returning from Pune to Mumbai when their Tata Safari rammed into a truck from behind. The mishap too+k place at around 4.15 pm. While the actress and the driver were injured, Akthar escaped unhurt.
The impact of the mishap was so heavy that the actress’ SUV was badly damaged.
The 69-year-old actress was brought out of the car and rushed to the MGM-MCH at Kamothe, along with her injured driver.
Immediately after the mishap, filmmaker Hansal Mehta took to social media and wrote: “The Mumbai-Pune expressway has always been dangerous and there is little or no monitoring to prevent rash driving. Have seen so many terrible accidents there. Hope #ShabanaAzmi is fine. Dear @OfficeofUT please improve safety on this route urgently. It is quite a death trap.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished the actress a speedy recovery. “The news of @AzmiShabana Ji’s [Shabana Azmi] injury in an accident is distressing. I pray for her quick recovery,” he tweeted.
Actressp-activist Swara Bhasker, tweeting about Shabana’s mishap, wrote, “Shabana Azmi injured in road accident on Mumbai- Pune Expressway OMG! Praying so hard”.