Crane’s cleaner dies on e-way in freak accident

Pune: In a bizarre accident on Pune-Mumbai expressway on Friday evening, an iron ladder of a heavy duty crane fell on an overtaking car, smashing the vehicle’s hood at Amrutanjan bridge. Although the passengers of the car had a miraculous escape, the cleaner of the crane sitting atop the ladder was not so lucky. Ram Nayan (25) fell and died on the spot.
The Mumbai-bound traffic was thrown out of gear nearly 20 minutes after the mishap.
“The accident took place around 7.45pm when the Mumbai-bound car was trying to overtake the crane. The crane’s iron ladder fell due to a heavy jolt following the sudden halt.The incident disrupted traffic for 15-20 minutes,” said an officer of the expressway police.
Around 7-8 cars rammed each other after a car stopped to witness the accident. Later, police had to call another crane to clear the fallen ladder.
“The passengers escaped unhurt; they didn’t sustain any injury. It is definitely miraculous. The 100-tonne iron ladder damaged the car but the passengers were safe,” a police official said.