A joyful trip to an engagement ceremony turned into a horrific tragedy after a tempo carrying wedding guests collided with a speeding container truck on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway in Maharashtra’s Palghar district on Monday. At least 13 people were killed and dozens injured in the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway accident, which took place near Dhaniwari village in Dahanu taluka around 4 pm, according to police officials. The Eicher tempo was reportedly packed with more than 50 passengers and was heading towards a nearby village for the engagement function of Balaram Jairam Dandekar from Bapugaon Khadkipada village. The violent impact of the crash left passengers trapped inside the badly damaged vehicle, triggering panic and chaos at the accident site.
Overloaded tempo and speeding truck suspected behind deadly highway crash in Palghar
As per reports, police officials said the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway accident happened after the tempo collided head-on with a speeding container truck. The force of the collision severely damaged the passenger vehicle and left several people critically injured.
Based on early reports, the tempo was reportedly transporting many people beyond its capacity. The officials are of the opinion that the high speed, a small section of the road and the inability of the driver to control the tempo could have been among the factors responsible for the crash on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway. As soon as the accident occurred, the rescue workers and other officials quickly reached the scene of the incident and started extracting injured people from the tempo.
Injured passengers shifted to nearby hospitals as rescue teams clear wreckage
The injured victims of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway accident were immediately shifted to the sub-district hospital in Kasa and another hospital in Dhundalwadi for treatment. Officials said nearly 20 people suffered serious injuries, while many others received minor wounds.
Reports say that rescue operations continued till later in the evening as authorities carefully cleared the damaged vehicles and checked whether anyone remained trapped inside. Police and emergency workers remained at the scene for several hours managing traffic and carrying out relief work. The Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway accident caused heavy disruption on the route as local residents and emergency responders gathered near the crash site during the rescue operation.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announces compensation as investigation begins
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed grief over the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway accident and confirmed that 13 people had died in the crash. The Chief Minister announced an ex gratia compensation of Rs 5 lakh each for the families of those killed in the accident. In an official statement, he said he was in constant touch with district authorities and senior police officers monitoring the situation.
According to the statement, top officials, including the Superintendent of Police, remained present at the accident site to supervise rescue and relief work. Authorities have now launched a detailed investigation to determine the exact cause of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway accident and examine whether negligence, overloading or speeding directly led to the deadly collision.
Khalid Qasid is a media enthusiast with a strong interest in documentary filmmaking. He holds a Master’s degree in Convergent Journalism from AJK MCRC. He has also written extensively on esports at Sportsdunia. Currently, he covers world and general news at NewsX Digital.
