In a tragic accident, eight people were killed after the SUV they were travelling in plunged into a gorge in Maharashtra's Raigad district, the police said on Monday.
According to the police, the incident happened on Sunday night n the Ambenali Ghat area on Poladpur-Mahabaleshwar road.They were on their way from Dapoli to Satara when the vehicle fell into the gorge.
The vehicle was found in the gorge on Monday morning, a senior police official said.
The victims have been identified as Ritesh Lokhande (22), Suhas Lokhande (20), Utkarsh Shingte (21), Nikhil Shingte (25), Mahesh Pawar (25), Aditya Salunkhe (21), Rajesh Katkar (35), all the residents of Satara, and Ansh Chavan (19), belonging to Ratnagiri.
The victims left from Harne in Dapoli at around 2 am in the SUV. When they did not reach Satara, their relatives launched a search in the afternoon and later approached the police.
During the investigation, the victims' last location was traced through a mobile tower near Poladpur. During a search operation, the police spotted the SUV about 800 feet deep in the gorge on Monday morning, the official said.
The police said that they have recovered two bodies so far, with the help of the local disaster management team, while three more have been traced, the official said, adding that the search operation was underway.
(With inputs from PTI)