August 4: Five persons including two women died while four were injured in a freak mishap at Sonali Phata, Bhivandi, on the Mumbai-Agra highway this afternoon.

According to Thane rural police, the Maruti van in which the group was travelling collided head-on with a truck coming from the opposite direction around 4 pm. Five of them were crushed to death on the spot while four of them who were seriously injured are undergoing treatment at the Thane civil hospital. The police informed that the van (MFF 7517) was going towards Agra while the truck (KK 22-6908) was coming to the city. The truck driver, in an attempt to overtake another vehicle, lost control and collided with the van.

Fearing arrest and an attack from the people he fled the scene. Bhivandi police have filed a case of causing death by negligent driving against the driver.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.