15 August,2011 07:26 AM IST | | Parth Satam
Mumbai-bound car veers out of control and falls into rivulet 20 feet below; two kids among dead
For the Maldhawa family, a weekend of celebrations ended in tragedy, after four of its members were killed in a car accident on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway.
Deadly fall: The gap in the divider through which the car fell into the
rivulet below
The crushed Toyota Corolla. Pics/Vishal Suresh
The family from Model Colony, Shivajinagar, was yesterday going to Mumbai in a Toyota Corolla when around 8.30 am the car fell into a rivulet, some 20 feet below the Expressway, after crossing the Khalapur Toll Naka.
The car reportedly swirled off the road after the driver lost control, somersaulted once, hit the road divider and fell off the road into a rivulet, killing four of its occupants on the spot, including five-year-old Ranjit and eight-year-old Girish. The children's father Sunil Maldhawa (35) and their grandmother Shankuntala (55) were also killed.
Their mother Aarti (30) was slightly injured after she reportedly fell out of the car as the door opened just before the vehicle fell into the rivulet. "Aarti was saved as the door opened violently, throwing her out," said Assistant Police Inspector DR Pol. "The rivulet had only knee-deep water, but the roof of the car was completely crushed. We are examining along with the local RTO to determine if the accident was caused by a technical defect or human error."u00a0u00a0
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The bodies were taken to Chowk Grameen Hospital near Khalapur. Later, the bodies were transported to the family'su00a0 Model Colony residence at Flat No. 5, Vinu Apartments.
