Six persons from Mulund, two each from Vasai and Pune, and the driver of the bus they were travelling in died in an accident after the vehicle collided head-on with a truck near Uruli-Kanchan town in Pune district on the Pune-Solapur highway on Saturday morning.
The deceased were on a religious trip to Akkalkot in Solapur. A middle-aged couple from Mulund, who were among the dead, was planning to adopt a child after returning from their trip.
Vijay Kale, 55, and his wife Jyoti, 50, residents of the Mulund's Neeta Apartment had no children. Kale owned two imitation jewellery shops at Jalaram Market of Mulund.
"The Kale couple would go on a pilgrimage every year, and after a visit to Akkalkot, they were planning to adopt a child. Vijay was a nice person and held a good position in the market as well," said Shailesh Gaikwad, the Kales' neighbour.
The others killed in the mishap have been identified as Vijay Kale's cousin Jagdish and his wife Shailaja Pandit (residents of Vasai), Kale's employee Yogesh Lokhande, Jaywant and Yogita Chavan and their daughter Revati (all Mulund residents), and Pradip and Sulbha Awchat (residents of Pune and family friends of Chavan).
According to relatives of Chavan, the Kales had organised a two-day trip to Akkalkot ahead of Holi. They had hired a private bus and left for Solapur around 8.30 pm on Friday.
They were supposed to return in a couple of days. Chavan's family is survived by his son Heramb, who studies in Kolhapur.
According to police, the accident took place around 3.30 am on Saturday. The bus driver, Ketan Pawar, 29, lost control of the vehicle as he tried to avoid hitting a wild boar and in the process collided with an oncoming truck.
The bus driver, along with the passengers, died on the spot. All the bodies have been sent to Sassoon Hospital in Pune for postmortem.
"A vegetable seller at Vashi's APMC market, Jaywant would always go on a pilgrimage with his family before Holi, but this time the Chavan family planned to go with their friends. We were shocked when we learnt about the mishap," said Jaywant's uncle.
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 "Road accident")
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