PUNE: Four people, including a mother-son duo and their kin, were killed and three others injured when a chemical-laden tanker caught fire following an accident and exploded on the busy Pune-Mumbai Expressway on Tuesday, police said.
The accident took place on a stretch between Lonavala and Khandala hill stations on the 91-km-long expressway, an official said.
The tanker caught fire following the accident and exploded, causing fiery balls of the chemical to fall on the motorists travelling on the road below, he said.
Four motorists on the road below sustained injuries, of which three died, while one occupant of the tanker was killed and two others in the vehicle were injured, said the official from the Lonavala police station.
The busy carriageway was cleared for traffic after a few hours.
The deceased were identified by the police as Savita Ware (35), her son Kushal (9) and her nephew Ritesh Koshire (16).
The tanker occupant who died in the accident was yet to be identified.
Savita Ware was on a motorcycle along with her son and nephew when fiery balls of the chemical fell on them while they were passing through the road beneath the bridge where the methanol-laden tanker caught fire after the accident, said the official.
"The driver of the tanker was injured and said to be critical. We are ascertaining how the accident took place and led to the fire," he said.
The official said the police were in the process of registering an offence against the tanker driver.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis called the accident "unfortunate" and expressed grief over the loss of lives.
"Three other persons were injured in the accident and are being treated in a local hospital. I pray for their betterment," Fadnavis, who also holds the home portfolio, said on social media.
The state police, the highway police, personnel from INS Shivaji, and the fire brigade rushed to the accident spot, where the fire has been brought under control, he said.
The police official said the vehicular traffic has resumed on both sides of the expressway.
