Tragic Accident in Pune: Eight People, Including Children, killed in Collision

In a devastating accident near Otur in rural Pune’s Junnar tehsil, eight individuals, including two children and a woman, lost their lives. The incident occurred around 10.45 pm on Sunday when a pick-up van collided head-on with a truck and an autorickshaw in Dingore village along the Ahmednagar-Kalyan highway.

According to the police, the driver of the van lost control while navigating a left turn, leading to the collision with the truck and subsequent collision with the autorickshaw.

Superintendent of Police (Pune Rural) Ankit Goyal informed TOI that among the deceased were four members of a vegetable trader’s family from Junnar, along with their employee who were traveling in the pick-up van. The remaining three victims were traveling in the autorickshaw. The deceased were identified as Ganesh alias Omkar Anil Maskare (30), his wife Komal (26), their daughter Kavya (6), son Harshad (4), and their employee Anmol Mukunda Thoke (25), who hailed from Yavatmal district and was residing in Junnar.

The victims traveling in the autorickshaw were identified as Naresh Namdev Divate (66) from Ghatkopar in Mumbai, Makrand Madhukar Khire (54), and his son Samarth (16) from Koregaon in Satara district, both of whom resided in Ghatkopar.

Additional Superintendent of Police Mitesh Ghatte stated that the Maskare family and Thoke were returning home to Junnar after attending a wedding in Ahmednagar district. They had commenced their journey in the evening. Divate was an autorickshaw driver, while Makrand and Samarth worked as priests. They were en route to Mohta Devi temple in Ahmednagar from Ghatkopar to perform a prayer ritual on Monday.

The tragic accident has left the community in shock and mourning. Investigations are underway to determine the exact cause of the collision. Authorities are also working to provide support and assistance to the families of the victims during this difficult time.