20 killed in bus, autorickshaw collision in Maharashtra

Mumbai: At least 20 people were killed when a speeding state transport (ST) bus collided with an auto-rickshaw, causing both the vehicles to fall into a roadside well in Maharashtra's Nashik district on Tuesday, police said.

More than 18 people also suffered injuries in the accident which took place at around 4 pm at Meshi Phata on the Malegaon-Deola Road in the North Maharashtra district, around 200km from here, an official said. The speeding ST bus (MH06 S 8429), packed with passengers, crashed into the auto-rickshaw (MH15 DY 4233), he said.

The impact of the collision was so severe that the bus dragged the auto-rickshaw along with it and both the vehicles fell into a roadside well, the official said.

"At least 20 bodies have been pulled out of the well and injured are being treated at state-run hospitals," Arti Singh, Superintendent of Police, Nashik Rural, said.

"We are drawing out water from the well with the help of pumps to check if more passengers are still stuck in the mud," she said.