Massive 48-vehicle pileup in India leaves at least 24 people injured

Officials say driver of truck switched off the engine causing the crash and vehicle pile-up

More than a dozen people were injured after a truck crashed on a highway in western India’s Maharashtra state on Sunday evening causing a pile-up of 48 vehicles.

The incident took place on the Mumbai-Bengaluru highway when a truck lost control on the downward slope of Navale bridge on the Mumbai-Bengaluru highway in Pune.

“A major road accident occurred at Navale bridge on the Pune-Bengaluru highway in Pune in which about 48 vehicles got damaged. Rescue teams from the Pune Fire Brigade and Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) have reached the spot,” a Pune fire brigade official was quoted as saying to NDTV.

Rescue teams from the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority and the Pune fire brigade were sent to the spot.

Officials said that the driver of the truck had switched off its engine causing the crash and vehicle pile-up.

More than 20 people have been injured while eight are receiving treatment at a hospital, authorities said.

At least 24 vehicles have been damaged in the incident, reported PTI.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Sunil Pawar said: “The probe by the Regional Transport Office (RTO) indicates that the truck driver might have switched off the engine by turning off the ignition while on the slope. If the engine is switched off, it affects the vehicle’s braking ability. That is how the truck might have gone hitting the vehicles on the slope.”

He added that the truck was from Tamil Nadu and was heavily loaded with some goods.

The driver of the truck fled from the spot and is currently absconding, authorities said.

Eyewitnesses said that several vehicles were badly hit by the resultant pile-up.

“Our car was also hit. We were four people in the vehicle and fortunately, nothing happened to us as the airbags opened, but we saw that several vehicles around us on the road were badly hit,” an eyewitness was quoted as saying.

Parliamentarian from Baramati, Supriya Sule visited the accident site on Monday and assured a probe into the incident.

In a tweet she said that officials of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), police, and the National Highway Authority of India had also visited the area.

“They all will visit the spot to assess it and taking that report, we will meet Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari and discuss what measures can be taken to make this road accident free,” she tweeted.

Two hours after the incident, two more accidents were reported in the neighbouring Katraj area, reported The Indian Express.