Maharashtra MLA's son among 7 students dead in car accident
Seven college students, including the son of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Vijay Rahangdale, died after their car fell off a bridge in Maharashtra in the early hours of Tuesday. The accident took place around 1:30 am near Selsura village when the students were traveling from Deoli to Wardha, according to the local police. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders condoled the deaths.
Police said initial investigations indicate the driver of the Mahindra Xylo car lost control, causing it to fall nearly 40 feet from a bridge. "The car hit the boundary wall and fell over the bridge," said Babasaheb Thorat, Assistant Inspector at Sawangi Police station. "All the occupants were thrown out of the car when the vehicle fell off the bridge," another official reportedly said.
Avishkar Rahangdale, one of the seven deceased, was the son of Vijay Rahangdale—a legislator from Tirora constituency. Other victims of the accident have been identified as Niraj Chauhan, Pratyush Singh, Shubham Jaiswal, Vivek Nandan, Pawan Shakti, and Niteesh Kumar Singh. All of them were students at the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Wardha, news agency PTI reported.
Maharashtra | 7 medical students, including BJP MLA from Tirora constituency Vijay Rahangdale’s son Avishkar Rahangdale, died after their car fell from a bridge near Selsura around 11.30 pm on Monday (January 24) pic.twitter.com/Hc9WC7sZvx
— ANI (@ANI) January 25, 2022
"One of the deceased students was a medical intern. Of the rest...two each were studying in the final year, third year, and first year," Dr. Abhyuday Meghe from the institute told PTI. The students were from several different states, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Odisha.
PM Modi said he was "pained by the loss of lives" due to the accident. "In this hour of sadness, my thoughts are with those who have lost their loved ones," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted on Tuesday. The PM's office also announced a compensation of Rs. 2 lakh each from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund for the families of those who died
