Mumbai: On Monday morning, five students were killed and 29 others are being treated in a hospital after the truck carrying students rammed into a tree. The mishap happened on Mumbai-Bangalore highway near Nagaon village. The students were from Walchand College in Sangli and were returning to their college with a ‘Shiv Jyot’ (Shiva Flame) from Panhala fort in Kolhapur district to mark the 388 birthday anniversary of the legendary Maratha warrior king, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, being celebrated on Monday.
According to the Kolhapur police officials, a group of over 30 students were returning from Panhala, via the Mumbai-Bengaluru highway when at around 4.30 am, a motorcyclist allegedly came from the opposite direction of the highway and was about to hit the truck occupied by students. In an attempt to avoid the collision, the truck driver hit the brakes and took a sharp turn, which resulted into the vehicle overturning in an instant.
Five students were killed in the accident. The deceased have been identified as Sushant Patil (22), Ketan Khochke (21), Arun Bonde (22), Pravin Trilotkar (23) and Sumit Kulkarni (23).
After the incident, a rescue operation was conducted, after which the students were rushed to the nearest CPR Hospital in Sangli
The villagers of Nagaon village helped the police and rescue operation team. A police official confirmed that accident killed five, while 29 students and the driver are being treated at the CPR hospital in Kolhapur. The accident had caused blocked traffic for some hours, which was soon cleared.
