10 killed as bus collides with truck in India’s Maharashtra

NEW DELHI: At least 10 people were killed and several others injured Friday after a speeding bus collided with a goods truck in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, officials said.

The accident took place in Sinnar area of Nashik district, about 180 km northeast of Mumbai, the capital city of Maharashtra.

“This morning a bus collided with a goods truck here on Nashik-Shirdi highway near Vavi Pathare village, killing 10 people and injuring several others,” a police official said. “The injured were immediately removed to hospital, where the condition of a few was stated to be critical.”

According to officials, the deceased included seven women and two children.

Reports said the private luxury bus had started from Ambernath in Thane district and was heading for the temple town of Shirdi in Ahmednagar district.

The cause of the accident was not immediately known.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde expressed grief over the accident and announced financial help of half a million Indian rupees (6,142 U.S. dollars) to each family that lost a member in the accident.

Deadly road accidents are common in India, often caused due to overloading, bad condition of roads and reckless driving.

Around 150,000 people are killed every year in around half a million road accidents across India, officials said.

India’s federal minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari has said the government has set a target to reduce road accident deaths by 50 percent by 2024.

-Xinhua