At least 17 labourers were killed and 15 others injured when a speeding truck overturned after hitting a barricade in western Maharashtra’s Satara district near Khandala in the early hours of Tuesday, police said.
The injured were rushed to hospital.
According to media reports, the incident took place on the ‘S’ shaped curve patch with a slope. The Mumbai-Bengaluru highway, where the accident occurred, has witnessed many accidents in the past too.
The truck, carrying construction labourers from Bijapur district in Karnataka, was going towards Pune when it met with the accident around 4.30 am on Mumbai-Bengaluru highway passing through the district, said Satara Superintendent of Police Sandeep Patil.
The driver apparently lost control over the wheels at the accident-prone stop near Khambatki ghat. As a result, the vehicle rammed into a barricade and then overturned, he said.
At least 17 labourers died on the spot, while 15 others sustained injuries, said Patil.
On being informed, the Khandala police rushed the spot and took all the victims to a nearby hospital, he said.
The police were trying to ascertain the exact reason of the accident, the official said, adding that they suspected the accident occurred due to the driver’s lack of concentration as he had been constantly driving and was deprived of sleep.
The bodies were sent for postmortem and the process to identify the deceased was on, the police added.
The Satara police had in the past registered a case against officials of the National Highway Authorities of India and the company that constructed the road, charging them for flawed design and construction leading to deaths.
(With agency inputs)