Two young trekkers from Mumbai lost their lives and 19 others, including the driver, were injured after a tourist bus carrying employees of a private company plunged nearly 50 feet into a gorge at Pabe Ghat in Pune district's Velhe taluka during the early hours of Sunday.
The group of 22 employees from a private firm in Andheri East was travelling to Rajgad Fort for a weekend trek when the accident occurred at around 1-2 am. According to police, the bus lost control while negotiating a sharp bend on the downhill stretch of Pabe Ghat, crashed through a roadside safety barrier, and fell into the valley.
The deceased have been identified as 25-year-old Vishwas Baburao Satim, a resident of Nehru Nagar in Vile Parle, and 23-year-old Dhwani Chandresh Thakkar from Kandivali West. Police said both died at the scene, while the injured were shifted to Velhe Rural Hospital with injuries ranging from minor wounds to serious head trauma.
Following a complaint filed by passenger Girish Ravindra Jangam, 28, the Velhe police registered an FIR against the driver, Sandeep Tukaram Gaikwad, 47, of Andheri East. He has been booked for causing death by negligence, rash and negligent driving, and causing hurt. Police alleged that the driver failed to exercise caution despite the challenging ghat road conditions. The investigation into the accident is ongoing.
Rescue teams, local residents and police personnel rushed to the spot immediately after the crash. A JCB machine was used to retrieve the bus from the gorge, while rescue workers evacuated the injured passengers.
The tragedy has once again highlighted safety concerns on roads leading to the Rajgad region. Local residents alleged that although funds had been sanctioned to install crash barriers at accident-prone stretches such as Pabe Ghat and Kadve Ghat, the work remains incomplete.
Vishwas Satim is survived by his parents and three siblings. His father, Baburao Satim, works as a gardener. The youngest in the family, Vishwas had been employed as a jewellery maker at an Andheri-based diamond jewellery firm for the past four years. According to his family, they were initially informed around 3.30 am that he had been injured. A few hours later, they received the devastating news of his death.
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