Three people died and two were injured after an SUV lost control, hit the divider, flipped over, and crashed into a taxi in the opposite lane of the Eastern Freeway on Tuesday morning at rush hour.
According to the RCF police, the accident occurred at around 9:15 a.m. on the stretch that passes over Chembur. An Innova, which was being driven by businessman Abdul Hamid Sirwa (48), lost control and veered towards the divider, while travelling in the north-bound lane of the freeway.
“The Innova was [driving] at a very high speed, and when it hit the divider, it flew in the air, grazed an electric pole on the divider, and flipped over, after which it landed upside down on the south-bound lane. An oncoming taxi, which could not stop in time, hit the overturned Innova head-on, and was thrown to the left, and a Maruti Swift Desire behind the taxi came to a stop after ramming into the Innova,” said an officer with RCF police station.
Passing motorists alerted the Mumbai Police Control Room, after which police and fire brigade personnel as well as ambulances were rushed to the spot.
The police said the Innova and the taxi were so badly mangled that immediate rescue of their occupants was impossible. Both the vehicles were cut open using gas cutters, after which Mr. Sirwa, and the driver and the passenger in the taxi, were rushed to Sion Hospital, where they were declared brought-dead.
The taxi driver was identified as Nandlal Jaiswal (46), while the passenger was Vijay Kelkar (48), an employee with a private firm, who stays in Thane.
Meanwhile, the two occupants of the Swift Desire, Mahesh Kuklekar and Ajay Jadhav, both civil engineers from Navi Mumbai, were discharged from Sion Hospital after being treated for minor injuries.
After recording statements from several eyewitnesses and taking into account the tire tread marks on the scene, the police established that Mr. Sirwa was at fault and posthumously booked him.
“We have registered a case of causing death and injury and endangering life under the Indian Penal Code and the Motor Vehicles Act,” the officer said.
