Mumbai, May 3: In a major accident, eleven persons including two women and a two-and-half-year old girl died instantaneously when a tanker carrying naphtha and a truck collided at CBD Belapur on the Sion-Panvel highway late last night.According to police, the incident occurred around 11.30 pm when the driver of the Pune-bound tanker, in a bid to avoid hitting a jeep, jammed on the brakes and bounced across the road, turning turtle. An empty truck coming from the opposite direction crashed against the tanker resulting in a huge explosion. The fire was brought under control only by 1.30 am this morning.
Most of those dead were in the tanker driver's cabin, having flagged down the vehicle to get a lift to their native place.
Four persons have been admitted to the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation Hospital in Vashi and two at Lokmanya Tilak Hospital at Sion in Mumbai.
One of the survivors, Nandakumar Sakharam Kirdat, told the police that he and the others had boarded the tanker at Maitri Park in Chemburto go to Satara. He identified some of the dead as Dattatreya Ganpat Nalavade (40), his wife Kamal (35), Chandrakant Kirdat (22), Vidya (two-and-a-half) and Sakharam Tukaram Kirdat ((36).
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
