Kolhapur: A day-long trip to coastal Ratnagiri turned fatal for a family from Sangli district when the SUV they were travelling in plunged into a roadside pool, allegedly after its rear tyre burst in the wee hours of Saturday. Five people, including four children, were killed and 11 others were injured in the accident.The accident happened at Ambegaon village, about 3 km from Kolhapur, on Kolhapur-Ratnagiri highway. The Kolhapur police have identified the deceased as Ashvini Nitin Tandale (26), Anisha Anil Tandale (14), Janavi Sunil Tandale (7), Dhanashri Shashikant Mane (7) and Shravani Sunil Tandale (3), all residents of Datta colony in Miraj city of Sangli district.Three brothers of the Tandale family and their neighbour had planned the day-long trip to Marleshwar and Ganpatipule temples in Ratnagiri district on Friday with their families.“They had left for Ganpatipule on Friday morning and started the return journey in the evening. At around 2am, when they reached Ambegaon village, the rear right tyre of their SUV burst. The driver lost control of the vehicle and the SUV skidded to the right,” said a police officer.The officer added that the vehicle ran off the road and plunged into a water body identified as Rede doh, which is about eight-foot deep. When the police reached the spot, the SUV was submerged in the water.“The driver has told us that all the passengers were asleep when the accident happened. The doors of SUV were centrally locked but the driver managed to come out of window of the front seat. He rushed to the road and called for help,” the police said. Passers-by alerted the police, following which, a team of disaster management rushed to the spot. They managed to help some passengers to come out of SUV and pulled the vehicle out using a rope.“Five people were killed on the spot and two children were seriously injured. All the occupants of the SUV were taken to Chhatrapati Pramila Raje (CPR) civil hospital for treatment. Two children are serious and admitted to the ICU. Others sustained minor injuries and are out of danger,” he said.The police said they were still to receive the post-mortem report that would confirm the cause of death.

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