Overview
- A tempo carrying villagers to an engagement on Monday collided head-on with a container truck near Dhanivari in Dahanu taluka, overturning both vehicles and killing 13 people while dozens were injured.
- Police have registered FIRs against both drivers, detained the tempo driver Rohidas Dhatrak and booked the injured truck driver Avdheshkumar Pal as investigations probe wrong-side driving, alleged overloading and possible loss of control.
- Maharashtra has announced Rs 5 lakh in ex-gratia for each deceased family and said it will pay medical bills, while tribal development officials pledged door-to-door surveys and longer-term support for affected households.
- Local and traffic police say the 38-km Dahanu stretch is accident-prone because it lacks service roads and has blind spots, which prompts motorists to take dangerous wrong-side shortcuts that NHAI has been asked to fix with rumblers, signage and higher medians.
- The crash devastated a small tribal village where several families lost multiple members, and authorities warn the immediate response and planned highway fixes will be watched as tests of whether enforcement and infrastructure changes can cut recurring highway deaths.