Four persons, including three children, were killed on the spot after a speeding car crashed into a crowd near Satnavri village on Sunday afternoon. The people were waiting for a bus at the bus-stop when the ghastly mishap occurred on National Highway-6, said police officials, adding that a woman was also seriously injured in the mishap. A trainee doctor was arrested by the police for reckless driving and causing death by negligence. The deceased are identified as Chaitali Vinod Sonbarse (15), Bandu Nagorao Salvankar (55), both residents of Satnavri village; and Shourya Subodh Dongre (8), Shairali Subodh Dongre (6), both residents of Isapur village in Mauda tehsil, were killed in the accident. Lalita Baburao Sonbarse (55), a resident of Satnavri, was seriously injured in the accident. She is battling for life at GMC&H. Deceased Shourya and Shairali were the grandchildren of Salvankar, police officials said.

 

The police have registered a case against Dr Ashutosh Chandraprakash Tripathi (26), a native of Borivali, Mumbai. He was living in a rented accommodation at Flat No. 201, Swarup Niketan, SVR, Nagpur. Police Inspector C R Kale said that Tripathi was a trainee doctor with Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Medical College, Amravati. Dr Tripathi and two women trainee doctors were heading towards Lata Mangeshkar Medical College and Hospital in Hingna in a Maruti S-Cross car (MH-27/BE-4614). An eye-witness told the police that Dr Tripathi was driving the vehicle at a great speed. The people were waiting for a bus at road-side small bus-stop on the service road at 2.40 pm. Tripathi suddenly lost control over the wheels and drove the vehicle extreme left of the road. As a result, the car jumped the road divider and crashed into the crowd. The car came to halt after turning turtle on the service road. The people started screaming in panic after the accident and alerted police.

 

The profusely bleeding children and two elders were crying as there was no one to help them. Staff of Kondhali police station rushed to the spot and shifted the injured to a local hospital where the four were declared dead. The woman was wheeled into the emergency ward of GMC&H at Nagpur. The police have arrested Dr Tripathi and a case under provisions of the Indian Penal Code read with Sections of Motor Vehicle Act was registered against him by Kondhali police. Dr Tripathi, in his statement, told the police that he lost control over the wheels while avoiding potholes. SP Vijay Magar, Addl SP Rahul Maknikar and others visited the spot and took stock of the situation.