NAVI MUMBAI: Five persons of a marriage party were killed and one was injured in an accident on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, near Panvel, early on Sunday when their vehicle lost control and broke through the cemented side wall, plunging down into the water below.

Navi Mumbai police said that the accident could have possibly occurred due to a tyre-burst or because the driver momentarily lost his concentration on the Expressway bridge in the pre-dawn hour.

All the five deceased were related to each other, and belonged to a family of jewellers in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. ”The victims were travelling in a jeep (registration number: GJ 1 JC 9685) to go to Sangli via the Expressway, to attend a wedding there, scheduled for November 23. The injured man, Pandurang Pawar, has been admitted to a local hospital in Panvel,” said an official.

Incidentally, the marriage party was travelling in two vehicles from Gujarat to Sangli. While the first vehicle safely crossed over the bridge near Chikhalgaon, the second vehicle met with the tragic accident. ”The jeep was travelling at a high speed, and broke through the strong RCC fencing of the bridge to plunge down,” said the official.

The names of the deceased are: Sachin Pawar (19), Arun Pawar (22), Laxman Mane (35), Ramesh Pawar (28) and Amit Deokar (25).

In 2006, there was a similar accident on this spot where one motorist was killed after falling down this bridge. Source by Times of India