Three killed, 14 injured as bus falls into 70-ft gorge

Three passengers were killed and 14 others sustained serious injuries after a minibus travelling from Pune to Chiplun fell into a gorge in Kumbharli ghat in Chiplun in the wee hours of Monday. The driver claimed to have lost control of the vehicle after the brakes failed and the bus carrying 20 people fell into a 70-foot deep gorge.

The deceased have been identified as Ajay Arvind Kherade (14) of Chiplun, Rakesh Dattaram Talekar(17) of Khed and Reshma Ramesh Nene (40) of Furus in Chiplun. The accident came to light only after a few passengers informed the police after rescuing themselves by taking one hour to climb the hill and reach a safe place.

Assistant police inspector of highway traffic (Chiplun) Ramkrishna Parab said, “The driver, Vaibhav Ramchndra Kadam, lost control of the bus after approaching a steep turn and the brakes also failed causing the moving vehicle to fall into the gorge. We along with residents rescued the injured only after the survivors informed us. The injured were taken to Shirgaon primary hospital where three were declared dead on arrival.”

Traffic on the route was disrupted for over half-an-hour as the bus was pulled up from the gorge with the help of a crane.