A road accident on Navale Bridge along the Pune-Bengaluru Highway on Thursday evening claimed at least seven lives and left over 20 others injured after a container truck lost control and rammed multiple vehicles, triggering a massive fire.
According to an official statement released by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) fire department, the control room received a call at 5.40 pm, reporting a major accident and fire at Navale Bridge. Fire tenders — a total of eight firefighting vehicles — were immediately dispatched.
Upon arrival, firefighters found two container trucks and a car trapped between them, engulfed in flames. The teams swiftly began firefighting operations and brought the blaze under control after intense efforts.
Unfortunately, seven charred bodies — including two men from the container trucks, and two men, two women, and a young girl from the car — were recovered from the site, confirmed PMC’s Chief Fire Officer Devendra Potphode. Four fire officers and about 40 personnel were engaged in the rescue and cooling operations.
Preliminary investigations suggest that one of the container trucks suffered brake failure while heading towards Mumbai from Satara. The truck hit several vehicles — reportedly 20 to 25 — along a 2-km stretch.
