Raigad (Maharashtra): Prakash Sawant-Desai and his 33 colleagues were looking forward to a weekend picnic in Mahabaleshwar on Saturday. However, little did they know that tragedy was lurking round the corner.
The private bus, on its way from Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district, skidded off the Mumbai-Goa highway and plunged 500 feet into a ravine, killing 33 of the 34 people inside.
Sawant-Desai, the only survivor of the tragedy, said he held onto branches as the bus slipped on mud and fell near Poladpur, about 175 kilometres from Mumbai.
“I was dragged but I held on to whatever I could. I hung to branches while the bus went down,” said the assistant director at the Dr Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth in Ratnagiri.
Sawant-Desai said he had to climb over 500 feet as there was no mobile connectivity in the valley. Once he reached the road on top, he called up the police and college authorities to inform them of the accident.
Several political leaders conveyed their condolences to the families of the deceased. “Pained by the loss of lives due to a bus accident in Maharashtra's Raigad district. My condolences to those who lost their loved ones,” the PMO tweeted quoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
I'm sorry to hear about the terrible bus accident in Raigad, Maharashtra in which a large number of people have been killed and many others injured. I appeal to Congress party workers in the area to provide all possible assistance to the injured & families of those who have died.? Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) 28 July 2018
On July 19, a similar accident had claimed 14 lives in Uttarakhand’s Tehri district.
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