At least 13 people were killed on Monday evening after a container truck collided with a tempo traveller carrying a wedding party.
At least 30 others have also been injured in the accident that took place on a stretch of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway near Dhanivari in Maharashtra's Palghar region.
Palghar, Maharashtra: On the Mumbai–Ahmedabad National Highway, a road accident occurred near the Dhaniwari area when a tempo carrying wedding guests met with a major crash. Reportedly 12 people have died in the incident, while more than 35 others are said to be seriously… pic.twitter.com/cGppM5wOWJ
— IANS (@ians_india) May 18, 2026
According to a statement issued from the Palghar district administration, it was the Eicher tempo traveller—carrying about 40 passengers—that had been travelling on the wrong side of the highway at the time of the accident.
The tempo had been just a short way away from its destination, the bride's house in Dhanivari, when the crash is said to have taken place.
When the container truck approached the wrong-way tempo from the opposite side, the driver of the truck allegedly lost control, which led to the container section of the truck colliding with the left side of the tempo, as per an Indian Express report.
A motorcycle carrying two passengers was also killed in the accident after it was caught in the collision.
Visuals from the scene show civilians and rescue personnel rushing to remove people trapped inside and under both vehicles—especially under the truck's trailer, which detached from it during the collision and fell onto the side of the highway.
The report added that 14 of the 30 critically injured victims were shifted to the Vedantaa Hospital in Dahanu for intensive treatment, while the remainder of the injured passengers were admitted to the Kasa Sub-District Hospital.
#WATCH | Palghar: SP Yatish Deshmukh says, "...A tempo carrying 30 to 40 people was driving on the wrong side of the road on the Gujarat-Mumbai road. A container was coming from the opposite direction and collided with the side of the tempo, resulting in the death of 13 people… pic.twitter.com/F1VjQst926
— ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2026
"The police and city administration initiated rescue efforts. Traffic was normalised immediately," explained Palghar SP Yatish Deshmukh.
Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis expressed condolences for those who had died in the crash, adding that he was already in touch with the local administration about rescue and relief efforts.
मुंबई-अहमदाबाद महामार्गावर पालघरच्या धानीवरी येथे एका टेम्पोला कंटेनरने धडक दिल्यामुळे झालेल्या अपघातात 13 नागरिकांचा मृत्यू झाल्याची घटना दुर्दैवी आहे. ही घटना ऐकून अतिशय दु:ख झाले. मी त्यांना भावपूर्ण श्रद्धांजली अर्पण करतो.
— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) May 18, 2026
या घटनेत सुमारे 20 जण जखमी झाले आहेत. त्यांना…
"The state government will provide financial assistance of 5 lakh rupees to the heirs of those who died in this incident," he wrote in an X post.
