Two persons were killed and two others seriously injured when the cars they were travelling in were hit by a landslide on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway at noon on Sunday, the expressway control room said.
The incident took place near the Adoshi tunnel at Khopoli in Raigad district. The two injured women were rushed to the Lokmanya Hospital in Pune.
Rs. 4 lakh ex gratia
The State government announced a compensation of Rs. 4 lakh each to the families of the deceased — Dilipbhai Patel and Shashikant Dhamankar — and promised to cover the cost of medical treatment for the injured. State Public Works (Public Undertakings) Minister Eknath Shinde reached the site.
While clearing operations were still in progress, three of the six lanes of the Expressway were reopened for vehicular movement. Two lanes were made functional for traffic from Pune to Mumbai and one lane for traffic from Mumbai. Traffic towards Pune was also diverted to the old Mumbai-Pune highway, the control room said.
Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu arranged two special trains and State Transport Minister Divakar Raote facilitated alternative routes for buses to ferry passengers between the cities.
