Mumbai:
Nine members of a Bhandup family died around 4 am on Sunday when the Tavera they were travelling in collided with a speeding luxury bus near Utgiri village in Khed area of Ratnagiri district. The family was on their way to organise the wedding of Manisha Khetle, 27, when tragedy struck.
The deceased have been identified as Anant Ganpat Khetle 55, Prema (wife), 48, Vishnu (brother), 46, Vinaya (sister-in-law), 40, Anjana (mother), 80, Sunanda Suresh More (sister), 50, Mahadev (cousin), 70, Taramati (cousin's wife), 58, Pradeep, 29, and driver Suraj Shankar Jadhav, 21.
Anant and Prema, residents of Geeta Apartment, Datar Colony in Bhandup East, have three children -- Manisha, Mandar, 25, and Abhishek, 23. "When Mandhar was told that his mother had died and his father was serious, he was shaken. We hid the news from the family till they left for the accident spot," neighbour Pranjal Mahajan told DNA. He said the Khetle family had been living in the building for 26 years. "The children were in a terrible state," said Yogita Bendale, another neighbour. Nine residents went with the Khetle family to collect the bodies.
"Before mobile connectivity was lost, we got to know that the bodies were handed over to the family at 3.30pm and cremated in the village. The neighbours are returning tonight, but we don't know about the family," said Urmila Koltharkar, whose husband accompanied the family.
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