Seven people were killed and another injured early on Wednesday after their vehicle crashed into a tree on the Mumbai-Bengaluru highway in Satara district of Maharashtra, PTI reported, citing the police. Preliminary inquiries revealed that the deceased were residents of Dharwad and were heading towards the Mumbai airport.
“The accident occurred close to Kashil village near Satara at around 12.45 am on Wednesday,” an unidentified official from Borgaon police station said. “All the seven deceased seemed to be from a single family. However, we are trying to establish their identities.” Three children are among the deceased.
Satara district police officials said that the accident occurred nearly 140 km away from Pune. The family were reportedly going to drop off two members at the airport for Hajj pilgrimage, The Indian Express reported. The driver of the car, who was severely injured, is being treated at a hospital.
“Based on the extent of damage the car has suffered, it seems it was moving at a very high speed,” the newspaper quoted Assistant Inspector Chandrakant More from Borgaon police station as saying.
Police cited heavy rain in the area as the likely cause of the incident. The bodies of the deceased have been shifted to a government hospital in Nagthane for postmortem examination. A case has been registered at the Borgaon police station, according to the Hindustan Times.
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