7 from Ahmedabad killed in car-bus collision, 3 from same family

Seven persons were killed when the car they were travelling in suffered a tyre burst and collided with a luxury bus on the Mehsana-Unjha highway around 2.30 am on Thursday.

According to police sources, the accident occurred after the driver lost control of the vehicle due to the tyre burst and rammed into the bus which was coming from the opposite side.

Three of the deceased belonged to the same family in Nikol, while four were students of Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University of Gandhinagar, including the son of a police inspector with the Special Branch department. All seven died on the spot.

The deceased have been identified as Nikol brothers Brijesh Kankadia, Gopal Kankadia and their cousin Monag Jadwani, and the students Aditya Patel of Modasa, Diviyapal Zala of Sanand, Uday Pandiya of Bhavnagar and Mukund Kuradia of Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

A B Gohil, PI, Mehsana taluka police station, said, "the seven were returning home when the accident occurred. The impact of the collision was so strong that the car was totally crushed by the bus and all seven car passengers died on the spot."

This is the second tragedy to strike the Kankadia family this year. It was only eleven months ago that Brijesh and Gopal's father committed suicide. Both brothers were cremated on Friday evening.

One of the deceased students Diviyapal Zala was the son of Special Branch inspector J R Zala. All the four were classmates.