Maharashtra : 25 killed as bus collides with auto-rickshaw in Nashik

In
Maharashtra, 25 people, including nine women, lost their lives when a speeding
State Transport bus collided with an auto-rickshaw, following which both the
vehicles fell into a roadside well in Nashik district yesterday.

More than 30
people also suffered injuries in the accident which took place in the afternoon
at Meshi Phata on the Malegaon-Deola Road in the North Maharashtra district,
around 200 kilometres away from Mumbai.

Nashik Rural
Superintendent of Police Arti Singh informed that the Maharashtra State Road
Transport Corporation-run bus was on its way to Kalwan town in Nashik from the
adjoining Dhule district. The speeding ST bus packed with passengers, crashed
into the auto-rickshaw coming from opposite direction.

She said
that the deceased included passengers travelling in both the vehicles. The
officer further informed that the impact of the collision was so severe that
the bus dragged the auto-rickshaw along with it and both the vehicles fell into
a roadside well.

District
Collector Suraj Mandhre said the injured have been admitted to Deola Rural
Hospital.

Meanwhile,
the State Government has announced financial assistance of 10 lakh rupees each
to the next of kins of the deceased. So far, 21 bodies have been pulled out of
the well and injured are being treated at state-run hospitals. Rescue operation
is still underway at the crash site.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has directed the District Administration to provide all possible help to the people injured in the accident. State Transport Minister and MSRTC Chairman Anil Parab termed the accident as unfortunate and said the MSRTC will bear the entire cost of treatment of the injured people.