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Four students from Pune’s Symbiosis International University were involved in a tragic road crash, resulting in the death of two students, while two others were injured early on Thursday morning.
The group was returning to the campus from a 90-minute drive to Maharashtra’s Lonavala when the crash occurred on the Mumbai-Bengaluru highway. The group had left the campus during the night and was returning early in the morning.
The students, in a Maruti Swift car, rammed into a stationary container truck near Eidgah Maidan in Pune at around 5.45 AM.
The deceased were identified as Divya Raj Singh Rathod and Siddhant Anand Shekhar, both 20 years old. The two others, 21-year-old Harsh Mishra and 20-year-old Nihar Tamboli, suffered minor injuries. The four were pursuing Bachelor’s in Business Administration (BBA) from the Symbiosis International University in Pune.
According to the police, the injured have been admitted to a private hospital.
Police have taken the truck driver, identified as 39-year-old Manish Kumar Suraj Manipal, a resident of Wadala in Mumbai, into custody. They are investigating the cause of the accident.
An official from Dehu Road police station, quoted in a PTI report, said the car hit a container truck from behind.
Visuals from the spot show heavily mangled remains of the car. One side of the vehicle was crushed from the front, and the car’s chassis was twisted, showing the extent of damage caused during the accident.
“Due to the impact of the collision, Divya Raj Singh Rathod (20) and Siddhant Anand Shekhar (20) died on the spot, while two others — Harsh Mishra (21) and Nihar Tamboli (20) — suffered minor injuries. The injured persons have been admitted to a hospital,” the official said.
The cops have launched a probe into the matter and are investigating all the angles, including the role of the truck driver.