<div><span>Eight passengers were killed in their sleep and 11 others injured when a private luxury sleeper bus rammed into a diesel oil tanker and caught fire on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway early Wednesday, police said.</span><div><br />The tragedy struck the Pune-Ahmedabad bus, owned by Pune's Prasanna Purple Travels, near Kuregaon village in Thane district's Manor town, said investigating officer Sudhakar Yenare.</div><div><br />According to preliminary information, the accident occurred when the bus driver was attempting to overtake a Hazira-bound BPCL (Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited) oil tanker and rammed into it, around 70 km north of Mumbai.</div><div><br />A speeding Verna vehicle behind the bus also lost control and hit the sleeper bus. Details of the car's occupants and their fate were not immediately known.</div><div><br />Earlier, police said the bus involved in the tragedy was a Volvo, but both the travel company and Volvo denied the police version. </div><div><br />Prasanna Purple Travels vice president Rohit Pardesi said it was an Ashok Leyland bus.</div><div>Villagers and fire brigade officials managed to douse the blaze after the accident which caused massive traffic snarls on the busy highway and other arterial roads.</div><div><br />The injured victims, two of whom are reported to be serious, were rushed to Manor town civil hospital while one was shifted to a Thane hospital.</div><div><br />There were 21 passengers on the ill-fated bus, besides the driver and conductor. The condition of the remaining passengers and the bus driver and conductor was not known.</div><div><br />The bus, which left Pune for Ahmedabad around 6.30 p.m. Tuesday was completely burnt.</div><div><br />Senior district and police officials besides senior people from the travel company rushed to the site to supervise rescue operations.</div><div><br />The police diverted traffic to the Wada-Bhiwandi Road and managed to resume controlled vehicular movement on the highway by 8 a.m.</div><div><br />By late afternoon, the highway was cleared and normal vehicular traffic had resumed.</div><div><br /></div></div>
<div><span>Eight passengers were killed in their sleep and 11 others injured when a private luxury sleeper bus rammed into a diesel oil tanker and caught fire on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway early Wednesday, police said.</span><div><br />The tragedy struck the Pune-Ahmedabad bus, owned by Pune's Prasanna Purple Travels, near Kuregaon village in Thane district's Manor town, said investigating officer Sudhakar Yenare.</div><div><br />According to preliminary information, the accident occurred when the bus driver was attempting to overtake a Hazira-bound BPCL (Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited) oil tanker and rammed into it, around 70 km north of Mumbai.</div><div><br />A speeding Verna vehicle behind the bus also lost control and hit the sleeper bus. Details of the car's occupants and their fate were not immediately known.</div><div><br />Earlier, police said the bus involved in the tragedy was a Volvo, but both the travel company and Volvo denied the police version. </div><div><br />Prasanna Purple Travels vice president Rohit Pardesi said it was an Ashok Leyland bus.</div><div>Villagers and fire brigade officials managed to douse the blaze after the accident which caused massive traffic snarls on the busy highway and other arterial roads.</div><div><br />The injured victims, two of whom are reported to be serious, were rushed to Manor town civil hospital while one was shifted to a Thane hospital.</div><div><br />There were 21 passengers on the ill-fated bus, besides the driver and conductor. The condition of the remaining passengers and the bus driver and conductor was not known.</div><div><br />The bus, which left Pune for Ahmedabad around 6.30 p.m. Tuesday was completely burnt.</div><div><br />Senior district and police officials besides senior people from the travel company rushed to the site to supervise rescue operations.</div><div><br />The police diverted traffic to the Wada-Bhiwandi Road and managed to resume controlled vehicular movement on the highway by 8 a.m.</div><div><br />By late afternoon, the highway was cleared and normal vehicular traffic had resumed.</div><div><br /></div></div>