6 dead, 3 injured after overloaded taxi topples on Eastern Freeway
The taxi involved in the accident. Picture Courtesy: Prashant Parab/Twitter
In a tragic incident, six people lost their lives and three others were injured after the taxi they were travelling in met with an accident on the Eastern Freeway on Saturday morning.
The accident took place around 9 am near the South-Mumbai end of the Freeway near Dongri while the passengers were enroute to Mumbadevi for a darshan.
Nine individuals were seated in the taxi, out of which six have died and three others have been injured. The ones who were injured, including the driver, were rushed to JJ hospital.
The taxi was carrying three women, two children four men. Details regarding their present condition are awaited.
According to preliminary information, the door of the taxi flung open while the vehicle was in motion near Wadi Bunder, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle and ram into the divider.
The taxi is believed to have toppled multiple times before coming to a standstill.
Pydhonie traffic police reached the spot within a few minutes and helped extract the victims from the mangled vehicle.
As of 11 am, traffic on the southbound lane towards P D’Mello Road has been affected and massive queue has formed.
Dongri police station are investigating the matter. No case has been registered till now.
The Eastern Freeway is a 17 km signal free stretch with no speed limit and inconsistent anti-crash barriers. The ability to attain high speeds on the winding road, along with the exposed edges of barriers makes the Freeway one of the most accident-prone roads in the city.
On October 24, two youngsters survived a major crash when their Honda City rammed into a barrier, which sliced into the car’s bonnet and windshield. While the car was left in a mangled state, the motorists survived with injuries.
Further details regarding the incident are awaited.
Update (11:20 am): The debris has been cleared from the freeway and the taxi has been brought to Dongri police station.
Update (1 pm): The deceased were identified as Harkesh Verma (45), Anantra Verma (35), Rajshree Verma (35), Ragini Verma (20), Asha Verma (12), Rajkumar Verma (8). The injured passengers are driver Mangru Verma (35), Vinay Verma (21) and Ravi Verma (14). All belonged to one family.
Note: The report was added immediately after the incident. It will be updated as and when more information becomes available.
