At least 13 persons were killed and three others injured when a mini bus broke though the parapet of a bridge and plunged into Panchaganga river near Kolhapur in western Maharashtra on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday.
The mishap took place at around 11.45 pm when the driver of the mini bus lost control while he was passing through the Shivaji bridge near Kolhapur. He slammed his vehicle into the parapet of the bridge and the vehicle fell 100 meters down into the Panchaganga river.
The passengers in the ill-fated minibus comprised 16 members of three families from Pune and the vehicle driver, who were returning their home city via Kolhapur after having visiting famous Ganapatipule temple in Ratnagiri district of coastal Konkan region. The driver of the vehicle was also killed in the mishap.
Those killed and injured in the mishap belonged to Kedari, Nagare and Wankhede families. Taking advantage of the long weekend beginning from the Republic day, they had gone to have darshan of lord Ganesh at the famed Ganpatipule, when they met the watery grave.
They were to make a halt at Kolhapur to have darshan of the Goddess Mahalakshmi.
Of the killed, there were six male and seven female. Seven of those killed were boys and girls aged below 16 years. Three women, who were injured seriously, are undergoing treatment at Kolhapur’s CPR hospital.
Though the rescue operation started shortly after midnight, the mini bus was pulled out of the river in the early hours of Saturday.
Meanwhile, Kolhapur District Guardian Minister and senior BJP leader Chandrkant Patil visited the mishap site in the morning and took stock of the situation.