Eight killed in Ambenali as car falls into gorge

At least eight people died in the car accident at the Ambenali Ghat section of the Poladpur-Mahabaleshwar road in Maharashtra’s Raigad district, a police official said on Monday (May 25, 2026). 

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The SUV was located on Monday (May 25, 2026), after relatives of the victims inquired with the police about their whereabouts after they were unreachable. According to the police, the accident occurred on Sunday (May 24, 2026), when the car driver misjudged the road and fell into an eight-hundred-foot-deep gorge.

The accident occurred in the Ambenali Ghat section of the Poladpur-Mahabaleshwar road between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. on Sunday (May 24, 2026). The vehicle was located in the gorge on Monday (May 25, 2026) morning, after relatives of the victims alerted the police when the group failed to reach their destination in Satara district. The car left Dapoli’s Harne Bandar beach for Satara, but it did not arrive at the expected time. Relatives approached the police when members in the car went unreachable.

The deceased identified are Mahesh Pawar (25), Aditya Salunkhe (21), Ritesh Lokhande (25), Suhas Lokhande (20), Utkarsh Shingte (21), Anil Shingte (25), and Nitin Naikonde (35), who belonged to Asgaon in the Koregaon region of Satara, and Ansh Chavan (18) from Ratnagiri. 

Police tracked the car’s passengers using mobile tower data, which showed their last location near Poladpur. Following this, a search and rescue operation (SAR) was launched. According to the police, five deceased have been recovered, and work to retrieve the remaining three bodies is underway. Mahabaleshwar Trekkers, SVRS Rescue Team, and Raigad’s rescue squad, in support of the police, are carrying out the SAR.