88 people killed in accidents on Samruddhi Expressway since December 2022: Maharashtra official
Mumbai (PTI): As many as 88 people have lost their lives in road accidents in the last six months on Samruddhi Expressway in Maharashtra, including 25 on Saturday as a private bus caught fire after hitting a divider, an official said.
Road hypnosis is cited as one of the causes of the accidents on the six lane wide access-controlled expressway, the state highway police official said.
Highway hypnosis or driving hypnosis is a condition when a driver zones out while driving a vehicle without remembering what occurred in that specific period.
A total of 39 fatal accidents have taken place on the Nagpur-Mumbai expressway since December last year when it was partially thrown open, the official said citing data.
Besides, 616 minor and major accidents have occurred on this expressway in which 656 people suffered from serious and minor injuries, he said.
Most of the accidents were caused due to reasons like over-speeding, drivers dozing off at the wheel, and tyre bursts.
The official said the highway police have been trying to tackle the issue of road hypnosis.
Across Maharashtra, 15,224 people were killed in road crashes in 2022, he added.
In the early hours of Saturday, 25 passengers were charred to death as the private bus they were travelling in caught fire after hitting a divider on the expressway in Buldhana district, police said.
The 701-kilometre Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Mahamarg is now operational on a 601-km stretch from Vidarbha's largest city to Bharvir in Nashik.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Five railway staffers injured as van headed to Rajdhani Express fire site overturns in MP
Ratlam (MP) (PTI): Five railway staffers were injured, one of them critically, when their van carrying repair equipment to the site of a Rajdhani Express fire overturned in Madhya Pradesh's Ratlam district on Sunday, officials said.
The blaze erupted in an AC coach of the Delhi-bound Thiruvananthapuram-Hazrat Nizamuddin Rajdhani Express between Vikramgarh Alot and Lunirichha stations under the Kota division of the railways in Ratlam at 5.15 am.
It disrupted the movement of several trains on the Mumbai-Delhi route, as per the officials.
A van carrying necessary equipment to Alot overturned on the way when a cow suddenly strayed into the middle of the road, they said.
ALSO READ: Fire breaks out in coach of Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express in MP's Ratlam; no casualties
Five railwaymen were injured, one of them critically, the officials said.
The incident took place when the van carrying essential equipment for overhead electric line repair, among other things, was on its way to Alot from Shyamnagar in Ratlam, West Central Railway's chief public relations officer Harshit Shrivastava told PTI.
The injured persons were rushed to the hospital and were subsequently referred to Kota in Rajasthan, officials said.
No casualties were reported in the train fire.
