At least 12 people have died and 25 were injured after a bus, they were travelling in fell into a gorge in Maharashtra’s Raigad district this morning, according to the police.

The police said that the private bus was travelling from Pune to Mumbai when it fell into the gorge near Shingroba temple on the old Mumbai-Pune highway.

Moreover, they said that there were approx. 40 passengers on the bus. All the injured passengers were rushed to the hospital.

Official statements

The private bus carrying members of a traditional music troupe was going from Pune to Mumbai when it fell into the gorge near Shingroba temple on the highway around 4.50 am, a senior police official said.

“The bus was carrying members of ‘Baji Prabhu Vaadak Group’ from Mumbai’s Goregaon. They were returning to Goregaon after taking part in an event in the Pimpri Chinchwad area in the Pune district. The bus had left the venue around 1 am on Saturday,” he said, adding that at least 12 persons were killed and 27 others injured in the accident.

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The deceased and the injured were from Sion and Goregaon in Mumbai and Virar in neighbouring Palghar district, Raigad Superintendent of Police (SP) Somnath Gharge said. The injured were admitted to the Khopoli Rural Hospital, he added.

Additional SP Atul Zende said the deceased and the injured belonged to the age group of 18 to 25. A team of local police and a trekker’s group are currently engaged in the rescue operation, police said.

Khopoli town is located around 70 km from Mumbai.