At least Eleven Class XI students from Nashik’s Late B P Patil Junior College and seven staff suffered injuries, four students critically with head and chest wounds, when their bus carrying 54 plunged 20 feet into an underpass construction site near Karad in Satara on Pune-Bengaluru NH-48 early Tuesday during return from a Konkan trip.
Driver Bharat Thete blamed a stray dog and brake failure at under 50 kmph with no barricades, but police point to hit cement stoppers and signage; all stable at Krishna Hospital per principal Prakash Bhandare, aided by a tehsildar help desk as parents and MLAs Atul Bhosale, Dilip Bankar assist.
Trip Turns Nightmare
The group of 180 from Pimpalgaon Baswant college departed Nashik on November 29 across five buses for a Sindhudurg coastal excursion, with this larger bus trailing three mini-buses on the return.
Around dawn near Wathar village, it veered into the third under-construction lane of a six-laning project due March 2025 but extended a year amid frequent service road mishaps. Local auto-rickshaw drivers warming fireside led rescues, rushing victims to Malkapur’s Krishna Hospital as parents rushed in.
Victims and Rescue Efforts
Critically injured students Rushikesh Pachorkar, Prajwal Maher, Sarthak Chavan, Piyush Kale remain in ICU; staff like cooks Kalpana Gire, Chinmay More, Sangeeta Dhage, Bhagwan Salve, Sikandar Shaikh and teachers Roshan Pardeshi, Babasaheb Gaikwad took fractures, most discharged alongside one student post-stitches.
Principal Bhandare noted stability, while tehsildar Kalpana Dhavale’s help desk links families. Driver Thete, 40 and experienced since 2004 with minor leg, chest hurts, claimed post-rest stop innocence; police senior dismissed it, citing front damage from stoppers and boards.
Official Support Rolls In
Karad South BJP MLA Atul Bhosale visited his family trust’s hospital, pushing full care; Niphad MLA Dilip Bankar sought details from Dhavale offering aid. College fetched injured via Pune bus.
The site ties to Satara-Kagal widening with toll halt petition pending at Bombay HC Kolhapur bench over safety lapses fuelling repeated crashes.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
Heart-wrenching plunges remind us young lives hang on better lanes and alerts, calling builders and drivers to accountability with kindness for hurried families. Safer highways bloom from united pushes for signage, checks, and extensions without peril, sparing more tomorrows.
