PUNE: A 25-year-old man who stopped at the site of a horrific crash on Pune-Solapur Road in the early hours of Saturday was shocked to see his cousin among the nine dead.
Nine students, in the 19-23 age group, were killed after their car collided with a truck at around 1:30 am near Kadamwak Wasti in the district.
Mohammad Ali Ismail Daya, who stopped his vehicle at the accident spot, found that one of the dead was cousin Noor Mohammad Abbas Daya (21), affectionately called Sonu by kin.
"I had come to Pune for some work and was returning home when I found a badly mangled car with police personnel and a crowd of onlookers gathered around it.
When I reached near the vehicle, I saw that one of the deceased was Noor. I was so shocked that I broke down," he recounted.
"Noor along with his friends had gone for a one-day trip to Raigad. At around midnight, he had told family members that they had reached Pune and would be coming home soon," he said.
Noor stayed in Yavat, around 30 kilometres from the district headquarters, and a few kilometres away from the accident spot.
Police identified the others who died in the accident as Nikhil Wable, Akshay Ghige, Vishal Yadav, Parvez Attar, Akshay Waikar, Juber Mulani, Shubham Bhise and Datta Bhise, all studying in different colleges.
The impact was such that the car was completely wrecked and police had to deploy gas-cutters to pry open some parts.