Cop among 5 killed in Maharashtra road accident

Solapur (Maharashtra) :  Five persons, including a police officer, were killed when a speeding jeep rammed into a stationery car on the outskirts of the town here early on Tuesday, police said.

According to J.N. Phulari of Solapur Taluka Police Station, the incident occurred around 6.30 a.m. on the Solapur-Tulzapur highway outside a wayside restaurant.

“According to preliminary investigations, the jeep driver suddenly lost control and rammed into the parked car outside the Sheetal Hotel,” Phulari told IANS.

The deadly collision killed at least five occupants of the jeep and injured seven others, she added.

The victims are: Police constable of Solapur town, Mohammed Akhlaqpasha Patil, 26, while the others include Jamir Hussain Patil, 32, Tipu Sultan Umarsaheb Chhapadband, 26, Abdul Hussain Chhapadband, 53, and Amir Hamza Navandagi, 50.

Locals said the jeep driver reportedly attempted to avoid hitting a wild boar which suddenly came on the highway, and swerved off to crash into the parked vehicle.

The impact of the crash was such that the jeep and its occupants were flung off the highway onto a wayside ditch while the stationery sedan was reduced to a heap of metal.

IANS