Three of family killed, two seriously injured as car crushed between trucks on Mumbai-Ahm Hwy

Hindustan Times

3 days ago

PALGHAR: Three members of a family, including a 43-year-old man, his wife, and his mother, were killed and two others sustained serious injuries after their car was crushed between two heavy vehicles on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway near Wada Khadkona village, Palghar around 11.30 am on Saturday.
According to the police, the family was travelling towards Mumbai in a Renault Duster when the car collided with a container truck that had abruptly braked near the end of the Mendhwan Ghat section. Moments later, a silo truck following the Duster rammed into it from behind, leaving the vehicle severely damaged.
The deceased have been identified as Clayton Valles, 43, his wife Fabiola Valles, 45, and his mother Gloria Valles, 73. Clayton's father, Henan Valles, 63, and nine-year-old son, Redan, sustained serious injuries and were initially treated at a private hospital in Manor before being shifted to Mumbai in the evening.
The family, residents of IC Colony in Borivali, was returning from Daman after attending a family function when the accident occurred.
Police said the accident happened on a slope near Hotel Manor Gate, a known accident-prone stretch. Inspector Ranvir Bayes of Manor police station said the Duster was completely crushed and it took nearly 90 minutes for rescue teams to cut through the wreckage and recover the bodies.
Redan has suffered fractures to his arm and leg and also sustained facial injuries, while Henan received multiple facial wounds.
Initial reports suggested that ongoing roadwork may have led to the sudden braking by the container truck, but National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) official Suhas Chitnis denied that any repair work was underway at the time.
Police officials said the site is a designated accident black spot and that further investigations would be conducted to determine the exact cause of the crash. Superintendent of Police Yatish Deshmukh visited the site and said authorities would check whether proper signage and safety measures were in place.
Regular commuters on the stretch said that no precautionary signage was visible other than a black spot board, and suggested that rumble strips and warning signs should be installed well in advance.
In a previous fatal accident along the same highway stretch near Charoti, industrialist Cyrus Mistry was killed on September 4, 2022, after a vehicle crash involving sudden lane merging. Commuters and officials have raised concerns over the increasing number of serious accidents following recent white-topping work along the Virar-Talasari section.