The accident caused traffic to pile up on the busy highway

MUMBAI: Six persons died and eight injured in a gruesome accident near Chikodra crossroads in Anand along the Vadodara-Ahmedabad Expressway shortly after 4am Monday.
The mishap occurred when a speeding truck hurtled into a Rajasthan-bound private luxury bus that had halted along the highway to change a flat tyre. The victims were bus passengers who were sitting on the large road divider.Those who remained inside the bus were saved.
The deceased were residents of Mumbai, three in fact from Dombivli, who were on their way to Nathdwara in Rajasthan. Among them was Premadevi Prakashchand Jain, her father-in-law Poonamchand Jain and Rajvi Suthar. The Mumbai address of Bhanvarlal Rao, Nainadevi Hensing and Sonu Narayan Jat was yet to be ascertained by police.
The injured include truck driver Karan Avdheshram, Motilal Didol, Rajesh Khatri, Meena Khatri, Ambalal Kumbavat, Suresh Nandkishore, Vishnu Jat and Santoshkumari Rajput. The accident caused traffic to pile up on the busy highway.
Anand (rural) police station registered an offence against the truck driver Karankumar Avdheshram, who is in hospital.
PSI Prashant Makwana of Anand (rural) police was patrolling the area around 4.00 am when the control room informed him of the mishap. He told TOI, “It was a gory sight to see the victims. Some were crushed under the truck tyres, others between the low side wall and the truck. An 80-year-old gentleman named Poonamchand Hukkamchand Jain, who is a resident of RP Road, Dombivli East, died in hospital. His daughter-in-law Premadevi Prakashchandra Jain, aged 51, died at the accident spot near ROB no. 19. They are natives of Rajsamand, Rajasthan. Premadevi’s son Mayur, the complainant in the case, missed death by a whisker. Also from Dombivli was another deceased Rajviben Sureshbhai Suthar.”
Makwana summoned a crane to move the truck and extricate the victims from beneath the tyres. He said, “Even the ambulance was stuck amid the resultant traffic jam. But we managed to make a path. Had we not rushed four critical victims to hospitals nearby soon, they would have perished too. Meanwhile, people around were busy taking videos and giving suggestions.”