Six young men out for a picnic were killed after their SUV fell into a 400-feet gorge at Tamhini Ghat in Maharashtra's Raigad district, police said on Thursday. The accident took place in the early hours of Tuesday, police were informed only on Thursday morning, an official said, adding that the vehicle was traced with the help of a drone camera.
Rescue teams continue to comb the area and find the bodies. The parents of some of the men approached police after losing contact with them since Tuesday morning. Police traced their mobile phone locations to Tamhini Ghat, and personnel of Mangaon police station launched a search operation on Thursday morning, the official said.
The passengers have been identified as Shahaji Chavan (22), Punit Sudhakar Shetti (20), Sahil Sadhu Bote (24), Shri Mahadev Koli (18), Omkar Sunil Koli (18), and Shiva Arun Mane (19). All are residents of Kondhwe Dhavade, Kopre village, and Bhairavnath Nagar in Pune.
The friends had set out around 11:30 pm on Monday, unaware of the danger awaiting them on the mountain pass. Personnel from Mangaon Police, Raigad Disaster Management, the Mulshi Taluka Disaster Management Committee, and local villagers are jointly conducting rescue and recovery operations.
After coming across a broken safety railing along a curve in the road, police deployed a drone and found the SUV stuck in a tree in the valley, he said. There were no eye witnesses but it is suspected that the driver lost control of the wheel at the spot leading to the accident, said the official.
A rescue team of Raigad Police and local volunteers recovered the bodies on Thursday afternoon, he said, adding that all the victims were identified. The bodies were sent to a government hospital and will be handed over to the relatives after autopsies, the official said.