Mumbai/Thane, May 19 (PTI) Five persons, including three women and two men, were killed and two sustained injuries after their speeding car fell 100 ft off a bridge onto a dry riverbed in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district in the early hours of Monday, police said.
The accident occurred near Khed around 5.45 am, when the vehicle first hit the divider and fell onto the dry river bed of the Jagbudi River, an official said.
He said the car was heading towards Devrukh town from Nallasopara in Palghar district.
The official said the deceased were identified as Mitali Vivek More (43), Megha Paradkar (22), Saurabh Paradkar (22), Nihar More (19) and Shreyas Sawant (23).
According to the police, the victims, originally from Sangmeshwar, were on their way to attend a funeral.
Police suspect that the driver may have nodded off at the wheel and did not recognise the turn on the bridge, falling from a height of 100 ft.
He said officials from the Khed police station rushed to the spot, and a rescue operation was conducted.
As the river was dry, the vehicle crashed into boulders, killing some of the occupants on the spot, he said, adding that the injured were undergoing treatment at a hospital in Ratnagiri.
One of the deceased, Mitali More was travelling to attend her father's funeral in Devrukh when the tragedy struck, officials said.
Her father Mohan Chalke died of a severe heart attack on Sunday.
She was travelling with her son Nihar (19) along with the Paradkar family from Nallasopara.
A case is being registered at Khed police station, and further probe is underway, the official said.