Six people were killed after a truck collided with a car on the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway in Maharashtra's Wardha district in the early hours of Monday, police said.
The two vehicles caught fire after the accident that occurred at around 3 am near Virul village. Traffic movement on the busy expressway was disrupted.
A container truck carrying ethanol overturned near interchange IC-80 on the expressway. While another lane remained operational, a stationary car on the road was struck from behind by a truck, and both vehicles caught fire, a senior police official said.
Four car passengers and two occupants of the truck, including its driver, died in the accident, he said.
Teams from the Highway Safety Patrol, Wardha Police, fire brigade, and the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation rushed to the spot for rescue and traffic restoration operations.
Since the overturned container was carrying highly flammable ethanol, it was necessary to empty it first before its safe removal. The operation was underway with utmost caution to ensure public safety, the official said.
Traffic on the Mumbai-Nagpur carriageway was being diverted to the opposite lane, causing heavy congestion along the affected stretch.
Police also advised motorists travelling from Nagpur to Mumbai to avoid using the Samruddhi Expressway up to Wardha for the next few hours. They asked people to use the Nagpur-Amravati highway and rejoin the expressway through the Amravati gate interchange.
Efforts were underway to facilitate the safe clearance of the accident site.
Notably, the Samruddhi Expressway recorded 185 accidents in 2025, a 35 per cent increase from the 2024 figure of 137, as per the highway police data.
The 701-km six-lane access-controlled highway, which connects Vidarbha's largest city to the country's financial capital, has been opened to traffic in phases since December 2022. An Intelligent Traffic Management System is currently under implementation to improve monitoring and enhance road safety, officials earlier said.
(With inputs from PTI)
