Pune: Four persons, including a minor, were charred to death and two others sustained injuries after the cargo truck they were travelling in caught fire following a multiple collision on Monday night near Navale bridge on the Mumbai-Bengaluru highway in Pune, officials said.
The accident was reported near Swaminarayan Temple at around 9 pm, resulting in four deaths and injuries to two others, PTI quoted Sinhgad Road police station Senior Inspector Abhay Mahajan as saying.
"A truck, carrying corn stover (remnants after corn harvest), was going from Sangli to Gujarat. When the truck came to Swaminarayan Temple Chowk, the driver lost control and the vehicle hit another truck, which toppled. The vehicle carrying corn stover then rear-ended a container truck," the Inspector said.
"The impact was so powerful that the truck carrying corn stover caught fire and the driver's cabin was mangled. Of the six occupants in the cabin, four were charred to death after getting trapped inside, while two were injured and have been hospitalised," he added.
Pune Municipal Corporation chief fire officer Devendra Potphode said the incident took place around 9 pm and the blaze was doused after multiple fire tenders and water tankers were deployed.
The police and fire brigade personnel were pressed into service to clear the road and traffic has been diverted to alternate routes, Deputy Commissioner of Police ( Zone III) Suhail Sharma said.
The bodies have been moved to a government hospital in the vicinity and postmortem examinations will be conducted this morning.
Police are also in the process of identifying the deceased and contacting their family members. (with PTI inputs)
