Palghar (Maharashtra) : Ten members of a family from Surat in Gujarat were killed early Monday when the mini-bus they were travelling in collided head on with a bus in this district, police said.
The driver of the mini-bus also died in the accident which took place around 3.45 a.m. at Achhad village in the district, close to the Gujarat border.
Thirteen members of the same family were travelling in the mini-bus. Those killed include a five-year-old girl, four women and six men, including the driver.
At least 15 people, three in the mini-bus and the remaining in the luxury bus, were injured and were rushed to hospitals in Vapi, Silvassa and Palghar on either side of the border.
The mini-bus from Mumbai was bound for Surat when it rammed into the bus coming from Ahmedabad on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway, according to investigating officer S.T. Dhanivare of Talasari police station.
“The driver of the mini-bus is among the 11 people who perished in the disaster. The driver of the luxury bus, Akhtar H.M. Malik, has lodged a complaint, claiming that the mini-bus banged into a road divider and came suddenly in front of his bus and that led to the collision,” Dhanivare told IANS.
Initial investigations suggest that the mini-bus driver may have dozed off at the wheel leading to the accident, but further probe is on.
Further details about the accident are awaited.