More than 30 passengers were injured when a Maharashtra State Road Transport bus collided with a roadside protective wall on a steep bend between Kothare and Avakhalwadi near Shahapur on Monday morning, with the driver’s intervention preventing the bus from falling into a gorge.
The bus was travelling from Kothare towards Shahapur after staying overnight at Kothare. It was carrying approximately 50 to 60 passengers when the driver lost control while negotiating a sharp bend and steep descent on the single-lane road section. The bus struck the protective wall along the roadside and came to a stop.
A pregnant woman was among those injured. Seventeen passengers, including 12 women and five men, were admitted to the Shahapur sub-district hospital for treatment. Other passengers, along with the driver and conductor, suffered minor impact injuries, according to the report by Loksatta.
Local residents reached the accident site after receiving information about the crash and helped move the injured passengers to the hospital in private vehicles. The report did not state that any passenger died in the incident. The condition of the injured passengers was not separately specified.
The crash occurred while the bus was negotiating the steep and curved section between Kothare and Avakhalwadi. After the driver lost control, he turned the bus towards the right side of the road. The vehicle then hit the protective wall and stopped. According to the report, a turn towards the left could have sent the bus into the adjoining gorge, potentially causing a larger accident.
Mansi Shelke, the Shahapur depot manager, said the accident occurred after the driver lost control of the bus. She also said injured passengers would receive primary financial assistance according to the applicable rules. The report did not provide further details about the amount of assistance, the condition of the protective wall or whether a technical inspection of the bus and road section had been ordered.
The incident places attention on the safety risks faced by state transport passengers on steep, narrow and winding road sections, particularly where a roadside barrier is the final protection against a fall. The immediate official information available concerns the accident, hospitalisation of 17 passengers and the proposed assistance to those injured. Further details about the cause of the loss of control and any inspection or corrective action remain awaited.
