8 killed as SUV plunges 1,500ft into Ambenali ghat valley; 7 friends among 8 killed; wreck traced after 18 hours

Kolhapur: Eight men, seven of them close friends, were killed after an SUV plunged nearly 1,500 feet into a deep valley along the treacherous Ambenali ghat in the early hours of Sunday. The remoteness of the accident site meant the wreck went unnoticed for nearly 18 hours until relatives reported the youths missing and the police traced a mobile signal. Till Monday evening, seven bodies had been retrieved.

Ambenali ghat connects Poladpur in Raigad and Pratapgad in Satara. The accident occurred on a ghat stretch with no protective railing, under the Bagalgav village limits. The police believe the vehicle may have mounted a soil mound before hurtling into the valley between 2.30am and 5am on Sunday, but the location was identified only much later.

Assistant inspector Anand Ravade, of the Poladpur police station, said, “The cellphone of one of the deceased was on, and it showed Poladpur location when tracked. We suspect the driver lost control at the turn. He may have been drowsy, driving early in the morning.”

The teams of volunteer rescue groups were called at 10.30pm on Sunday. The volunteers had to stop work late on Sunday night as it got very dark. After the location was traced, relatives also rushed to the accident spot, waiting for the young men to be rescued. However, there were no survivors.

The deceased include seven friends — six from Asgaon and Mardhe villages in Satara district and one from Borgaon village in Ratnagiri district — and driver Sandip Katkar (37) from Khatav in Satara. The seven friends had hired the SUV for a trip to Dapoli beach. The deceased youths are Asgaon residents Ritesh Lokhande (22), Suhas Lokhande (20), Mahesh Pawar (25) and Aditya Salunkhe (21), Mardhe residents Karan Shingate (21) and Nikhil Shingate, and Ansh Chavan (19) from Borgaon.

Rescue challenges

The rescue/retrieval operation, which ran late into Monday evening, spanning almost 24 hours, was slow and perilous. A drone survey revealed bodies scattered across different depths in the gorge.

Teams from Pratapgad Search and Rescue, Mahabaleshwar Trekkers, and Roha’s Sahyadri Trekkers had to battle near-vertical cliffs and dense vegetation. “We used drone cameras to locate the bodies. Some were at such a depth that it was not possible to reach them by trekking down. Instead, teams were deployed from down in the valley to climb up and access the bodies,” said a volunteer rescuer.

Saurabh Salekar, of Mahabaleshwar Trekkers, added, “The second of the two bodies retrieved earlier was stuck in the vegetation. There was an overhang slope/cliff, and it was difficult to stand there. We, however, managed to retrieve the body.”

The first two bodies were spotted 500-600 feet below the road, but the SUV lies nearly 1,000 feet deeper, complicating retrieval efforts. Till Monday evening, seven bodies had been recovered. Volunteers said the last body may be retrieved later at night.

The bodies recovered were sent to the Poladpur Rural Hospital. Postmortems on six of the bodies have been completed. “The victims suffered multiple physical injuries, mainly to the head and chest, leading to death,” said Bhanudas Giri, the medical superintendent of the Poladpur Rural Hospital.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said the tragedy went unnoticed initially. “It was after their relatives complained that the youths had been missing that the search started,” he said. Earlier, Fadnavis had written on his X handle that NDRF too had been deployed for the rescue mission.

Families distraught

Four of the deceased young men from Asgaon village were childhood friends who had grown up together.

Ritesh’s father, Rajendra Lokhande, said the boys were all ambitious and wanted to make something of their lives. Ritesh, he said, was preparing to join the police force.

“My wife and I had asked our son not to go to Dapoli. But he insisted. Since all his childhood friends were going, we did not pursue the matter further. They left on Friday night, and reached the Dapoli beach on Saturday morning. They played on the beach and swam. They even put up photos of the group having a good time as their WhatsApp status. On Saturday night, I got a call from Ritesh. He said they would be leaving a little later. I told him to ensure that the driver knows the ghat is dangerous and drives safely.” said Rajendra Lokhande.

“On Sunday morning — when the group had yet not returned — I tried calling Ritesh. I must have tried 50-60 times during the day. When I left for work, I told my relatives to find Ritesh. Eventually, we approached the police, and his cellphone location was traced,” added the distraught father.

Barring Ritesh, the other three young men were the only sons of their parents.

“What can I ask of the govt? Whatever will it do? Nothing can get my son back. Govt must at least place some safety measures along the ghat so that no one else’s son dies," said Suhas’s father, Jitendra Lokhande.

Deadly ghat

The Ambenali ghat, one of Maharashtra’s longest (roughly 40km) and most treacherous mountain roads with multiple hairpin bends, has a grim history. Just on April 23, a couple returning to their home in Wai fell off the Ambenali ghat after their bike skidded and wedged into guard rails within the limits of Kumbharoshi village. Moreover, on July 28, 2018, a mini-bus carrying 34 staff members of Dr Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krushi Vidyapeeth fell into the gorge from Ambenali ghat. Only one person survived. Sunday’s crash occurred barely 500-600 metres from the site of the July 2018 tragedy, said Sunil Bhatia of Mahabaleshwar Trekkers.

(With inputs from Atul Deshpande in Satara)