3-truck pile-up near Mumbai-Pune Expressway new link kills 2, causes 2-hour jam

NAVI MUMBAI: Two persons were killed and two injured in a pile-up involving three heavy motor vehicles on the Mumbai-bound carriageway of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, close to the new connecting link, near Khopoli on Friday around 5 pm.The three HMVs overturned. Paint from one of the overturned trucks spilled onto the road and the resulting traffic jam affected vehicles on not only the regular route on the expressway but also the new connecting link meant for light motor vehicles like cars. The jam lasted two hours.The driver and the cleaner of the paint-laden truck died in the accident.Later, around 9.15 pm, there was another pile-up near Khopoli food mall on the expressway. There were no fatalities in this accident.API Swapnil Patil of Highway Safety Patrol (HSP) informed that the first accident occurred in the Bhor ghat section at 38.100 km distance on the Mumbai-bound carriageway of the Expressway. A truck with Karnataka RTO passing was transporting a consignment of paints and painting powder bags and was travelling from Pune towards Mumbai. The truck driver lost control near Khopoli and crashed into a truck and a container vehicle ahead, resulting in a pile-up.The paint consignment spilled on the highway, resulting in severe traffic snarl for around 2 hours, till the toppled vehicles were towed away and the spilled paint and power was washed off. To prevent traffic snarl, the vehicular movement was diverted along the two lanes towards Mumbai.API Patil said, “The names of the truck driver who rammed into two HMVs and the cleaner, who were killed on the spot, are yet to be ascertained. Since, the trucker’s driving licence and other vehicle documents could not be found in the spilled paint. Those injured are the truck driver Veer Balram, who hails from Rajasthan and the other trucker Zeeshan Ali (31) from UP. Both are severely injured and admitted at Khopoli rural hospital. Sub-divisional police officer of Khalapur division Vishal Nehul, Khopoli police inspector Sachin Hire, IRB patrol and Devdoot teams, along with social worker Gurunath Sathilkar and his team from Khopoli, were present at the spot and assisted in rescue and relief work.”