A fatal accident involving two heavy vehicles occurred on the Mumbai–Pune Expressway near the Khalapur Food Mall in the early hours of Sunday, leaving two people dead and two others seriously injured.
The crash took place around 5 am when two heavy vehicles collided head-on with considerable force. The impact was so severe that both vehicles were extensively damaged, and two persons died on the spot.
Shortly after the collision, an Ertiga car approaching from behind crashed into one of the accident-hit vehicles. The occupants of the car sustained serious injuries in the secondary collision.
The truck driver and his helper were killed in the crash, while Lilabai Satse, a senior citizen travelling in the Ertiga, sustained serious injuries. Mahendra Pal, the container driver, was also injured but is reported to be in stable condition. Both injured persons were shifted to Khopoli Gramin Hospital and MJM Hospital for treatment.
Following the accident, police temporarily shut the Mumbai-bound arm of the Missing Link corridor to facilitate rescue and clearance operations. Traffic was diverted through the old Mumbai–Pune Highway and the ghat section, leading to long queues of vehicles during the morning rush.
Authorities, along with emergency teams and expressway maintenance personnel, cleared the damaged vehicles and restored traffic movement within a few hours. By around 7 am, some lanes on the Missing Link route were reopened, while normal traffic flow gradually resumed later in the morning.
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