In a shocking incident, at least 13 persons were killed and 28 others were injured after a bus carrying them fell into a gorge in the Raigad district along the old Mumbai-Pune Highway on Saturday.
The bus was carrying young male and female members of a traditional music troupe - and at least five of those who died are minors and majority of them in their teens or twenties.
They had been to Pune and were returning to Mumbai when the incident took place in the Bor Ghat-section at around 0450 hrs, reports reaching here said.
The bus landed in a 300-400 feet deep gorge.
The occupants of the bus were mainly residents of Mumbai and the larger Mumbai metropolitan region. There were 42 occupants in the bus.
The bus was carrying members of Baji Prabhu Vaadak Group and Satish Dhuma Dholtasha Pathak.
They had been to Pune for an event in Pimpri Chinchwad, the sister city of Pune, from where they started their return journey at 0100 hrs.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced an ex-gratia of Rs five lakh to the kin of each deceased and that the government would take care of the medical expenses of the injured.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to review the situation.
Shinde visited the spot and later the hospitals and spoke to patients. “Its an extremely shocking incident,” said Fadnavis, who holds the Home portfolio.
As the news of the incident came in, teams of the local police and volunteers of Yashwanti Hikers' group from Khopoli rushed to the spot and launched a rescue operation and took the injured people to the local hospitals.
The injured were admitted to three different hospitals including the Mahatma Gandhi Mission (MGM) Hospital at Kamothe in Navi Mumbai
Raigad Superintendent of Police Somnath Gharge said that majority of those travelling in the bus were from Sion and Goregaon in Mumbai and Virar in neighbouring Palghar district.
The government has ordered a probe into the incident.
Some locals complained about the absence of railings and this aspect too would be part of the investigations.