Eight people, including two children, were killed in an accident when a pick-up truck rammed into an autorickshaw on the Ahmednagar-Kalyan highway in Maharashtra’s Pune late on Sunday.
Officials said the accident took place around 9 p.m. at Dingore village in Junnar taluk on Sunday, more than 100 km from Pune city.
Five persons travelling in the pick-up truck and three people in the autorickshaw were killed. Among the eight dead, four have been identified as members of the same family — Ganesh Mhaskare (30), his wife Komal (25), daughter Kavya (6) and son Harshad, aged 4.
According to the police, the pick-up truck was heading to Kalyan from Otur village (in Junnar taluk) while the autorickshaw was coming from the other side of the highway.
The pick-up truck crashed into the autorickshaw, following which both vehicles turned turtle.
The pick-up truck, which kept moving upon impact after toppling, rammed into another truck coming from the opposite direction, the police said.
Expressing sorrow over the accident, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who is also Pune’s Guardian Minister, exhorted the traffic police to be vigilant about such incidents while appealing to drivers to strictly follow safety rules to avoid such accidents.
