Maha: Noted surgeon, cabbie killed in accident on Expressway

A prominent city-based surgeon and his cab driver were killed and two other doctors injured when a bus hit them on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway near here in Maharashtra, police said on Monday.

The mishap took place near Somatane village around 10.30 pm on Sunday when Dr Ketan Khurjekar (44), a spine expert, and two other orthopedic surgeons were on way to Pune from Mumbai in a cab, Talegaon Dabhade police station's inspector Kishor Mhasawade said.

When the cab reached Somatane village, the driver stopped the vehicle on a roadside to replace one of its punctured tyre.

After all of them came out of the vehicle, Khurjekar went to help the driver.

While the cab driver was changing the damaged tyre, a private bus coming on that side hit all of them from behind, the official said.

Khurjekar and the cab driver, Dnyaneshwar Bhosale (27), died on the spot, he said.

The other two doctors received injuries and were admitted to Sancheti Hospital for treatment, he added.

Khurjekar, a gold medalist, was head of the department for spine surgery at the Sancheti Hospital. He had performed around 3,500 complicated surgeries.