Three village heads killed in Maharashtra accident

Four people, including three village panchayat heads, were killed in a road accident in Maharashtra Saturday morning, police said.

The sarpanches were from the Dhamangaon region of the state.

The victims were proceeding from Buldana to Jalgaon to attend a conference of the state village sarpanches.

As they were travelling in a SUV, the driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle and rammed into a tree.

Of the total six sarpanches travelling in the ill-fated vehicle, three died instantly, and the husband of a woman sarpanch was also killed.

The victims are Dhamangaon village sarpanch Pravin D. Gulhame, 42, Batole sarpanch Narendra Bhurupi, 40 and Dakkulgaon sarpanch Mangesh V. Mhatre, 39.

The fourth victim is Arvind Tale, 45, whose wife and sarpanch Anita, was one of those injured in the accident.

The other injured include sarpanches Atul Kunaba and Yogita Kokate and the driver of the vehicle Pravin Dalvi.

They have been been admitted to Buldana civil hospital for treatment even as hundreds of villagers were plunged into mourning following the deaths.

Buldana in Vidarbha region is located around 500 km from the state capital Mumbai.