The chain collision happened at around 11 a.m. on Friday on the Mumbai-bound carriageway of the Mumbai–Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway, near the Dusarbhi toll point in Buldhana district, at the 321-kilometre mark from Nagpur, according to police.

Source: Hindustan Times

Traffic on the carriageway had been halted after a cement mixer trolley overturned and blocked the road, leaving a line of vehicles standing. A steel-laden truck approaching the queue collided with a car from behind, and the impact triggered a sequence of crashes among the stationary vehicles.

18vehicles in the pile-up (police)
7people injured
4injuries grievous
0deaths reported

Police said seven people were injured in the pile-up — four grievously and three with minor injuries — and the injured were taken to hospital. No deaths were reported.

Former Maharashtra minister and NCP (SP) leader Rajesh Tope, who was travelling from Nagpur towards Jalna, was in an adjacent lane when the crash occurred. Tope said the truck approached at high speed and struck the queue; he helped with the rescue work, ensured the injured were taken to a medical facility, and urged the government to implement urgent safety measures on the expressway.

Source: Hindustan Times

Early counts of the vehicles caught up in the crash varied: Marathi daily Loksatta reported nine vehicles damaged near Dasarkhed, while the Free Press Journal reported 22 vehicles damaged. Traffic on the expressway was disrupted, with long queues forming as the wreckage was cleared.

Source: Loksatta via Urban Acres

The expressway — formally the Hindu Hriday Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg — is Maharashtra's flagship Mumbai–Nagpur corridor and has recorded a series of serious crashes since it opened, repeatedly raising questions about speeding and safety on the high-speed road.