A tragic accident involving a school bus on the Pune-Bengaluru National Highway 48 left four Class XI students seriously injured and seven college staff members with fractures. The incident occurred in the early hours of Tuesday near Karad in Maharashtra's Satara district.
The Accident Sequence and Conflicting Accounts
The bus, belonging to the Late B P Patil Junior College of Science in Pimpalgaon Baswant, Nashik, was returning from an excursion to the Konkan coast. It was carrying 54 students when it veered off the road and plunged approximately 20 feet into an under-construction underpass site.
The driver, Bharat Thete (40), who has been driving since 2004, sustained minor injuries. He stated that a stray dog suddenly came in front of the vehicle. "I tried to save it. The brakes failed, and I lost control," Thete explained. He emphasized that the bus was not speeding beyond 50 kmph and claimed there was no barricading or signage to prevent entry into the under-construction lane.
However, a senior Satara police officer, speaking anonymously, refuted this version. The officer confirmed that cement stoppers and a diversion signboard were in place to block the third lane. Evidence from the bus's front-end damage suggests it hit these cement barriers before the fall.
Rescue, Injuries, and Hospital Response
Following the crash, local autorickshaw drivers who were nearby immediately rushed to rescue the passengers and transported them to Krishna Hospital in Malkapur. The four critically injured students have been identified as Rushikesh Pachorkar, Prajwal Maher, Sarthak Chavan, and Piyush Kale. They sustained head and chest injuries and were admitted to the ICU.
The seven injured staff members include cooks Kalpana Gire, Chinmay More, Sangeeta Dhage, Bhagwan Salve, and Sikandar Shaikh, along with teachers Pardeshi Roshan and Babasaheb Gaikwad.
College principal Prakash Bhandare provided an update, noting that all injured staff and one of the four seriously injured students have been discharged after treatment. The remaining three students are stable but undergoing further care. A help desk has been established under Karad Tehsildar Kalpana Dhavale to coordinate with families.
Political Attention and Highway Safety Concerns
The accident has drawn attention from local politicians. Karad South BJP MLA Atul Bhosale visited the hospital, urging doctors to provide the best care. Niphad MLA Dilip Bankar also contacted authorities for details and offered assistance.
The underpass construction is part of the six-laning project on the Satara-Kagal stretch of NH-48, with a completion deadline extended to March 2025. This stretch has witnessed several accidents since traffic was diverted to service roads. A petition is currently pending before the Bombay High Court's Kolhapur bench, seeking to halt toll collection until the six-laning work is fully completed.
The excursion involved a total of five buses carrying 180 students, teachers, and staff from the college, who had left Nashik for Malwan in Sindhudurg district on November 29.
