Eight die, 23 hurt as van falls into Maha river

Dhule, November 30

Eight persons, including five children, were killed and 23 injured on Saturday when a pick-up van carrying labourers from Madhya Pradesh fell off a bridge in north Maharashtra’s Dhule district, the police said.

The incident took place on the Chalisagaon-Dhule highway near Vichur village around 12.30 am when the van driver lost control over the vehicle in an attempt to avoid a pothole while crossing a bridge on the Bori river, an official said.

The vehicle hit parapet of the bridge, broke it and plunged into the river around 40 to 50 feet below, he said.

As the van hit rocky riverbed, seven of the passengers died on the spot, while one woman died during treatment. The deceased included three labourers — two women and one man.

The van was carrying 31 passengers. The victims were on their way to Osmanabad in Maharashtra to work at a sugarcane factory to make jaggery, the official said. — PTI