Three die in first road mishap of year on Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway

The mangled remains of the car in which the family was travelling. Pics/Hanif Patel

Seven members of a family travelling in a car from Nalasopara to Bhilad, Gujarat met with an accident on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway near Kasa in Palghar district around 1 pm on Sunday. Three of the occupants died while the remaining have sustained severe injuries and are undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Vapi. This is the first fatal accident of the year on the highway where industrialist Cyrus Mistry died in a mishap four months ago.

An eye witness told mid-day, "The car was in the middle lane of the highway, just behind a contained truck. The driver of the vehicle tried to overtake the truck from the left side, however, there was another container truck which he could not see. As he speeded to overtake, he rammed into the other truck from behind. Three of the passengers died on the spot."

"The container truck did not stop even after the accident. The police are now looking for the truck," the eye witness added.
The deceased have been identified as Narottam Chhana Rathod, 65; his son Ketan Rathod, 32; granddaughter Aarvi Deepesh Rathod, 1. Those who are injured include Ketan's brother Deepesh Rathod; his wife Tejal, 32; mother Madhu Rathod, 58; and daughter Snehal, 2.5. Sources at Kasa police station told mid-day that Aarvi's father Deepesh was driving the car.

Also read: 100-km stretch of Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway on which Cyrus Mistry died has claimed more than 60 lives this year

The injured were administered first-aid at Kasa Sub-District Hospital and were referred to Vedanta hospital in Palghar, but the relatives took them to a private hospital in Vapi, said sources.

‘Car driver was speeding'

Palghar Superintendent of Police Balasaheb Patil told mid-day, "All of them belong to the same family and are residents of Nalasopara. They were heading to Bhilad in Gujarat. Prima facie, it seems that the driver lost control over the vehicle and rammed it into a truck on the highway from behind. Three people died on the spot and four others were injured."

Those injured in the accident being taken to a hospital

Assistant inspector Shrikant Shinde, in-charge of Kasa police station, said, "It seems that the car driver was speeding as it rammed into the container truck, which was moving in the same direction, from behind."

Police officers were in the process of registering a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Motor Vehicles Act at the time of going to press.

Post-mortem awaited

The medical officer at Kasa Sub-District Hospital Dr Rajesh Jha said, "The bodies of the deceased are kept here. Post-mortem of the deceased are yet to be conducted. We think the elderly man died of head injuries. There were multiple lacerated wounds on the baby's body."

"The driver of the car and his mother sustained abrasions on their bodies while another woman [Tejal] received multiple fractures. The girl [Snehal] faced blunt trauma in the accident," Dr Jha told mid-day.