Palghar, March 4 A 28-year-old driver from Punjab was killed after their tempo caught fire on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway in Maharashtra's Palghar district, and a cleaner sustained serious injuries, police said on Wednesday.
The incident, which disrupted traffic on the busy carriageway, occurred around 10:30 pm on Tuesday on the Gujarat-bound lane near Somta.
According to the Palghar rural police, a tempo was in motion when a fire broke out, quickly engulfing the entire vehicle.
"The intensity of the blaze was so severe that it killed the tempo driver, Jawan Singh, and gutted the materials being transported in the vehicle," a police official said.
Cleaner Gurusewak Singh (38), also from Punjab, managed to escape the burning vehicle but sustained serious burns, he said.
"The injured cleaner was rushed to the sub-district hospital for treatment, while the driver's body has been sent to the government hospital for a post-mortem," the Palghar rural police added.
The fire disrupted traffic on the busy highway for several hours as fire brigade personnel worked to extinguish the flames.
The police have registered a case of accidental death in connection with the accident. "An investigation is currently underway to determine the exact cause of the fire," the police official added.
