5 killed as car falls onto dry riverbed in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri   

Five people were killed and two injured as their speeding car fell onto a dry riverbed in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district in the early hours of Monday, police said.

The accident occurred near Khed around 5.45 am, when the vehicle first hit the divider and fell into the dry river bed of the Jagbudi river, an official said.

He said the car was heading towards Devrukh town from Nallasopara in Palghar district.

Three women and two men were killed, while two persons were injured, he said.

The official said the deceased were identified as Mitali Vivek More (43), Megha Paradkar (22), Saurabh Paradkar (22), Nihar More (19) and Shreyas Sawant (23).

He said officials from the Khed police station rushed to the spot, and a rescue operation was conducted.

As the river was dry, the vehicle crashed into boulders, killing some of the occupants on the spot, he said, adding that the injured were undergoing treatment at a hospital in Ratnagiri.

A case is being registered at Khed police station, and further probe is under way, the official said.