Expressway accident claims life again

Couple injured; deceased was Atlas Copco executive returning from home in Thane

An official of a company in Pune died after his car tyre burst on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway and the vehicle crashed through the road divider and collided

head-on with another car. The accident took place near Urse toll post on Wednesday morning. A couple travelling in the other car was injured.

Police identified the deceased as V P Gopal (55) of Thane, an Atlas Copco executive.

Gopal, the team leader in the Import Export division of Atlas Copco at Kasarwadi in Pune, was returning to Pune after visiting his house in Thane when the right front tyre burst near the toll post around 7.45 am. The car veered off the road, crashed through the divider and collided with a car in the opposite lane.

The couple in the other car, Rochak and Dipti Kohli, of Nigdi Pradhikaran, were going to Mumbai, when Gopal's car crashed into their vehicle, police said. Gopal, who suffered major head injury, died on the spot. The Kohlis were admitted to a hospital.

Gopal, who had been working with Atlas Copco for the past 33 years, was posted in Mumbai, but was transferred to Pune after after the company set up its office in the city.

Gopal, who used to visit his home in Thane during weekends and on off-days, is survived by his wife and two sons. His elder son studies in the UK and the younger is student of a college in Mumbai.

In another accident, three persons were injured after their car hit the divider near Baur village on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway on Tuesday late evening after the driver reportedly lost control.

They were travelling from Mumbai to Pune. The injured were admitted to the Lokmanya Hospital in Nigdi. Police said driver Nitin Kopikar (29) of Sainik Nagar, Yerawada, suffered major injuries.

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