Cyrus Mistry, the former Tata Group chairperson who died in a car accident near Mumbai on Sunday was brought to Mumbai's JJ Hospital for an autopsy, reports said. His last rites will be conducted at the Worli crematorium in Mumbai on Tuesday, news agency ANI reported.
Mumbai-based gynaecologist Anahita Pandole and her husband, the CEO of JM Financial Private Equity, Darius were also injured in the accident. Darius's brother and director at the KPMG Global Strategy Group Jehangir, who was also in the car, died on Sunday. Anahita and Jahangir are in hospital and have sustained multiple injuries.
Hindustan Times reported that the four were on their way back to Mumbai from the Parsi pilgrim town of Udvada. The newspaper reported that Vada Dasturji Khurshed Dastoor, the high priest of Udvada, has confirmed that they had gone to the Iranshah Atash Behram for a religious function.
Here's what we know so far:
Mistry's autopsy today, suffered head injury
The doctor who attended to the four in the accident said that Mistry had been declared dead on arrival, while Jehangir died around 5 pm while being brought to the government hospital in Kasa. Dr Shubham Singh said that a postmortem had to be carried out, but he was informed by the district collector that it would be done in Mumbai.
Singh was quoted by ANI as saying, "At first, two patients were brought which included Cyrus Mistry and Jahangir Pandol. Both of them were brought dead. The locals who brought them told us that Cyrus Mistry had died on the spot. Jahangir Pandol was alive on the spot, however, he died during the transit. We declared him dead around 5 pm."
Both Mistry and Jehangir are said to have received serious head injuries.
The Times of India reported that Mistry and Jehangir's bodies were brought to Mumbai's JJ Hospital late on Sunday night.
Anahita and Darius stable but critical
Anahita and Darius were first taken to a hospital in Vapi, before being moved to HN Reliance Foundation Hospital in Mumbai. They were brought to the hospital by road.
A doctor of the Rainbow Hospital, where the couple was first taken, said that they had begun to respond to questions before being shifted from to Mumbai late on Sunday. The Indian Express quoted Dr Tejas Shah as saying, "I asked them Kem cho (how are you doing) in Gujarati and they responded. They are critical but became more stable by midnight. Two cardiac ambulances with intensivists also came to our hospital after midnight and the process of creating a green corridor started. We informed the local police at Valsad to create a green corridor and they help us shift patients in many cases."
The report said that Anahita suffered injuries to her pelvic region and also had blood in her chest. Darius had injuries in his lungs. They supposedly received injuries in other parts of their body too. Palghar district's Civil Surgeon Dr Sanjay Bodade told Mid-Day, "Anahita has fractured her left leg, while Darius's cheekbone was broken. Both the injured have been referred to Rainbow hospital in Vapi for further treatment."
Black spot
Several reports have now suggested that the place where the accident took place was a "black spot" on the highway. ANI quoted Palghar SP Balasaheb Patil as saying that there were multiple such blind spots along the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway. He said, "Efforts are also being made by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to eliminate these blind spots."
Other serious accidents are said to have occurred near the location where Mistry's car was involved in an accident.
A Mid-Day report found out from local police that there is a 52-kilometre stretch between Manor in Palghar district of Maharashtra and Achad in Gujarat where there are several such blackspots. The highway also lacks proper signage and street lights, the report said.