A devastating road accident on National Highway-53 near Dhobisarad village in Maharashtra’s Gondia district claimed three lives and left eight passengers in critical condition when a fully-loaded private bus travelling from Kawardha in Chhattisgarh to Chandrapur slammed into a stationary truck shortly after midnight on Thursday, highlighting yet again the lethal dangers posed by improperly parked heavy vehicles on India’s highways.

The Chhattisgarh-registered bus, operated by a private travel agency and carrying 45 passengers, was cruising through Deori tehsil at approximately 12:20 am when driver Chandrashekhar Chaudhari, navigating a stretch shrouded in darkness, failed to notice the unlit truck abandoned on the roadside after running out of fuel, resulting in a violent head-on collision that ripped apart the entire front section of the bus.

The sheer force of the impact proved instantly fatal for two passengers—Sunita Hemlal Baghele, 45, from Khairagarh, and Manoj Bablu Patle, 40, from Kawardha—while a third victim succumbed shortly afterwards despite emergency efforts. The bus driver himself sustained compound fractures in both legs and remains under medical observation, unable to provide a detailed statement.

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Upon receiving the alert, a police team led by Inspector Pravin Dange rushed to the scene along with local residents, who played a crucial role in extricating trapped passengers from the mangled wreckage. Ambulances from nearby primary health centres and rural hospitals were mobilised within minutes, ferrying the eight most critically injured to specialised trauma facilities in Nagpur for urgent advanced treatment.

Authorities have registered a case against the truck owner and driver for causing death by negligence and endangering lives, with Assistant Police Inspector Mukesh Rathod confirming the truck had been left without hazard lights, reflectors, or warning triangles. The incident has intensified calls for stricter enforcement against roadside parking of broken-down vehicles on national highways, where such oversights continue to exact a heavy human toll.

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