Two Cars Plunge Off Delhi-Mumbai Expressway in Ratlam, Killing Four

Four people were killed and seven others injured in Madhya Pradesh's Ratlam district on Tuesday after two cars crashed off the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway and fell into a 30-foot-deep ditch within hours of each other, police said.

The two accidents, which occurred in close succession, claimed the lives of two women from Punjab and two men from Gujarat. Police have begun investigating the circumstances that led to the crashes.

According to Prakash Gadaria, in-charge of the Jawar Industrial Police Station, the first accident took place when a car carrying a family from Punjab broke through the railing of the eight-lane expressway and plunged into the ditch below. Narendra Kaur (67) and her daughter-in-law Manpreet Kaur (32) died in the crash, while four other occupants of the vehicle sustained injuries.

Gadaria said that while a police team was still examining the scene, a second car went off the same broken stretch of railing and fell into the ditch.

Ravi Hatila (35) and Ramesh Makwana (50), both residents of Gujarat's Dahod district, were killed in the second crash, while three others were injured, another official said.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Yuvraj Singh Chauhan said the causes and circumstances of both accidents are under investigation.