A horrific pre-dawn accident in Kolhapur claimed three lives and left one man injured on Thursday, after a speeding SUV veered off the road and plowed into a group of workers warming themselves around a bonfire.
The Tragic Incident at Tawade Hotel Chowk
The fatal collision occurred around 5:30 am on Thursday at the Tawade hotel chowk bus stop. This location is situated near the entrance to Kolhapur city and close to the busy Pune-Bengaluru national highway. According to Shahupuri police inspector Santosh Doke, the driver of the SUV, identified as Mukesh Ahire (29), lost control of his vehicle.
Preliminary investigations indicate a critical error. "The SUV owner stepped on the accelerator instead of applying the brakes to avoid hitting another vehicle," Inspector Doke told TOI. This mistake caused the vehicle to swerve off the roadway and directly hit the four men who were seated beside the highway, seeking warmth from the early morning chill.
Victims and Immediate Aftermath
The impact of the crash was devastating. The police reported that the three men who died were flung into the air and thrown several feet away by the force of the collision. The victims have been identified as:
- Dilip Pawar (65), a resident of Valivade Road in Gandhinagar, Kolhapur.
- Sudhir Kamble (41), from Gharniki village in Sangli's Aatpadi.
- Vinaysingh Gound (27), hailing from Sindhi town in Madhya Pradesh.
The injured survivor is Nawla Shelke (55), from Dhankar Galli in Kolhapur's Kagal town. All four men were transport and local workers. Quick-thinking local autorickshaw drivers witnessed the accident, immediately informed the police, called for ambulances, and also managed to apprehend the SUV driver before handing him over to the authorities.
Driver Arrested and Legal Proceedings
The police have arrested the driver, Mukesh Ahire. Ahire, who originally hails from Savarkheda in Jalgaon district, runs a catering business in Mumbai. He was traveling from Kolhapur to Karad at the time of the incident to pick up some of his employees.
"Relatives of the deceased have been informed about the accident. We will produce the accused before the court on Friday," added Inspector Doke. The case highlights the fatal consequences of a momentary driving error on a high-speed corridor, turning a simple act of seeking warmth into an unimaginable tragedy for the families of the daily wage workers.
