A 46-year-old woman was killed in a road accident after the scooter she was riding on skidded into a pothole in Thane district of Maharashtra. The woman fell on the road and was run over by a truck coming from behind, killing her on the spot.
The woman, identified as Sunita Akshaylal Pal, was riding pillion with her husband, Akshaylal Pal, on an Activa scooter when the accident happened on Thane-Bhiwandi Road in Rahanlal village.
The two were travelling to Anjurphata in Bhiwandi, Thane district to check out a flat. According to police, the scooter hit a large pothole on the concrete road that was filled with rainwater, following which the driver lost balance, causing the scooter to skid, throwing both riders onto the road.
While Akshaylal was thrown to the roadside and sustained injuries, Sunita fell onto the carriageway and was run over by a truck coming from behind. Sunita died on the spot.
Akshaylal is currently undergoing treatment.
Sunita's body has been sent for post-mortem and further investigation into the accident is underway.
The tragedy has once again exposed the dangerous condition of roads in Bhiwandi, where waterlogged potholes have become a major safety hazard during the monsoon. Angry relatives and residents have demanded immediate repairs to the roads and financial assistance for the victim's family, warning that more lives could be lost if the issue is not addressed.
This is not the first death due to potholes this monsoon.
Vihaan Srivastav, 11-year-old boy was killed when a huge tree fell on his school bus in Mumbai's Chembur area on June 30. Four other children were injured while they were on their way home from Universal School.
Vihaan's father, Gaurav Srivastav, complained that a matter of negligence has been turned into a natural disaster.
"It looks like when you are sending your child to school, you are doing everything for your child and something tragic happens and the system who should examine the facts and give the correct findings itself gives a finding which is not aligned to the real facts and it's a man-made negligence turned into a natural disaster," he said in an exclusive interview with NDTV.
Earlier in July, a couple suffered a horrific bike crash after hitting massive pothole In Gujarat's Junagadh. As seen in a viral video, the couple was riding a motorcycle when its front wheel got trapped in a massive pothole that appears to be filled with rainwater. The impact caused the bike to lose balance instantly, throwing both riders onto the road.
Neither the man nor the woman was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident.
