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hirteen persons, including three minors, were killed and 29 injured after a bus carrying young male and female members of a traditional `Dhol-Tasha-Zaanj' music troupe fell into a gorge on the old Mumbai-Pune highway in Raigad district of Maharashtra in the early hours of Saturday, police said.
The private bus with 42 persons on board was going from Pune to Mumbai when it plunged into the 300-feet deep gorge in the Bor Ghat mountain pass section, better known as Khandala Ghat, between 4.15 and 4.30 am, said a senior police official. The accident took place near Khopoli, 70 km from Mumbai.
The deceased included a 12-year-old boy. Among injured, at least six are minors. Most of the music troupe members were in their twenties or teens.
The group, which played traditional instruments of Dhol, Tasha and Zaanj, was returning to Mumbai after taking part in an event in Pimpri Chinchwad township near Pune city.
Expressing grief over the incident, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced an ex-gratia assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of each deceased.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah expressed grief over the accident. He also spoke to CM Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu also expressed grief over the tragedy.
"Pained by the mishap in Raigad, Maharashtra. My thoughts are with those who have lost their loved ones," the PMO quoted Modi as saying in a tweet.
An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund will be given to the next of kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 will be given to the injured, the @PMO India quoted Modi as stating in another tweet.
"The bus was carrying 42 members of 'Baji Prabhu Zanj Pathak' based in Mumbai's Goregaon. They were returning to Goregaon after taking part in an event in Pimpri Chinchwad area in Pune district. The bus, which had left the venue around 1 am on Saturday, fell into the gorge on the highway near Shingroba temple after its driver lost control," the police official said, adding that 13 of them died in the incident, which left 29 others injured.
The deceased included the bus driver, Hariratan Yadav (40).
On learning about the incident, a team of the local police, volunteers of Yashwanti Hikers from Khopoli and some personnel of IRB company rushed to the spot and launched a rescue operation, the police said.
The injured were admitted to three hospitals -- the Mahatma Gandhi Mission (MGM) Hospital at Kamothe in Navi Mumbai, a government hospital in Khopoli and a private facility there, officials said.
The deceased and the injured were from Goregaon and Sion in Mumbai and Virar in neighbouring Palghar district, Raigad Superintendent of Police (SP) Somnath Gharge said.
In a tweet in Hindi, Union minister Shah said, "The road accident in Raigad, Maharashtra is very sad. Talked to Chief Minister @mieknathshinde and Deputy Chief Minister @Dev_Fadnavis in this regard. The local administration is engaged in relief work. I express my condolences to the families of the deceased and wish the injured a speedy recovery."
CM Shinde visited the MGM Hospital in Navi Mumbai to enquire about the health of the injured. He also visited the accident site later.
"Of the injured persons, the condition of five is critical. I have instructed the doctors to provide the best possible treatment to save their lives," he said.
Deepak Sawant, who lost his 18-year-old daughter Jui in the accident, said he had spoken to her when she reached Pune for the event.
"While leaving for Pune, Jui told me she will call me when she reaches the city, which she did. That was my last conversation with my daughter," said a distraught Sawant, who is employed as a security guard.
Jui had just appeared for her Class 11 examination, he said.
Among the dead were brothers Satish and Swapnil Dhumal, who had left Mumbai on Friday to attend the event and boarded the bus in Pune in the early hours of the day.
"We were college students and associated with the troupe. I was asleep when we were informed about the accident. We immediately rushed to Khopoli and identified Swapnil's body," said Ganesh Bhole, a friend and neighbour of the brothers.
One of the rescuers at the scene, Khopoli-resident Dr Riyaz Pathan, said he received a phone call from a fellow medical practitioner about the accident.
"After reaching the spot, we managed to bring out 10 to 15 passengers, one of them dead," he said.
He claimed there were no safety railings at the spot, adding that the railings may have averted the accident.
President Droupadi Murmu expressed grief over the tragedy.
"The loss of lives in a bus accident in Raigad, Maharashtra is deeply distressing. My condolences to the bereaved families. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured," the president tweeted.