Pune bridge pile-up: Truck hit multiple vehicles after driver switched off engine on slope, say police

PTI

Pune, November 21

The driver of the truck, which hit several vehicles on Mumbai-Bengaluru highway in Maharashtra's Pune district and caused a pile-up, had apparently switched off its engine on a bridge slope resulting in the accident, a police official said on Monday.

Switching off the engine affects the vehicle's braking ability and this possibly resulted in the truck hitting other vehicles on the bridge slope on Sunday, according to a probe conducted into the accident by the Regional Transport Office (RTO), he said.

At least 24 vehicles were damaged late on Sunday evening after the truck lost control on the downward slope of Navale bridge on the Mumbai-Bengaluru highway here.

More than 20 people suffered injuries in the accident and eight of them were hospitalised, an official said.

A case was registered against the absconding truck driver, identified as Maniram Yadav, under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Motor Vehicles Act.

The driver fled from the spot after the accident and efforts were on to trace him, police said.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Sunil Pawar said, "The probe by the RTO indicates that the truck driver might have switched off the engine by turning off the ignition while on the slope. If the engine is switched off, it affects the vehicle's braking ability. That is how the truck might have gone hitting the vehicles on the slope."  The truck was from Tamil Nadu and was heavily loaded with some goods, he said.

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