A van full of devotees going to a temple in Pune fell into a ditch, 10 women died; PM Modi expressed grief

News Topical, Digital Desk : A tragic accident has happened in Pune, Maharashtra. Ten women going to a temple died and 29 people were injured when a pickup van fell off the road in a hilly area.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the incident and announced an ex-gratia of ₹ 2 lakh from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund to the next of kin of each deceased.

There were 40 people in the van

Citing preliminary information, a police official said that there were about 40 passengers in the van, mostly women and children. The vehicle went off the road and fell 25 to 30 feet down after the driver lost control around 1 pm.

10 ambulances were deployed to take the injured to the hospital

The victims were residents of Papalwadi village and were going to Shri Kshetra Mahadev Kundeshwar temple in Khed tehsil to celebrate Shubh Somvar of Shravan month. Locals rushed to the spot and informed the police. "10 women died and 29 others were injured," the official said. He said 10 ambulances rushed the injured to nearby hospitals.

What did PM Modi say?

PM Modi said he was deeply saddened by the loss of lives in the Pune accident. "My condolences to those who lost their loved ones in the accident. Wishing the injured a speedy recovery. The next of kin of each deceased will be given an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund. The injured will be given Rs 50,000," the PMO said.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also expressed grief over the tragedy and announced a compensation of Rs four lakh each to the families of the deceased.

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