Thane bus tragedy toll climbs to 14

Thane  :  The toll in Wednesday morning’s luxury bus and tanker collision climbed to 14 with two more bodies being recovered from the scene of the accident, police said here.

The incident occurred at 7 a.m. when an Ahmedabad-Mumbai luxury tourist bus was hit by a speeding tanker on the busy national highway near Kasa village in Palghar sub-district, around 110 km north of Mumbai.

Due to the impact of the collision, the side of the luxury bus was torn off and it veered down the highway into a river, trapping the passengers.

According to preliminary investigations, the tanker driver reportedly lost control and the vehicle climbed over the road divider, colliding with the bus coming from the opposite direction.

While 14 passengers — including women and children — were killed, another 36 were injured in the accident.

They have been rushed to hospitals in Mumbai, Vapi and Palghar and the condition of a few is reported to be serious.

A massive traffic jam, which had blocked the busy Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway for several hours after the accident, was cleared this afternoon after rescue work was completed.