At least seven people were killed, while several others were critically injured following a head-on collision between two cars in Maharashtra's Jalna.
The accident happened at nearly 11 pm on Friday near Kadvanchi village.
The victims were residents of Malad (East) in Mumbai and Buldhana district, news agency PTI reported.
According to the details, the two cars collided as one of the vehicles was coming in the wrong direction to approach a fuel refilling pump.
The impact of the collision was so severe that the MUV broke through the crash barrier and fell off on the left side of the road. Local villagers and police rushed to the scene to rescue the persons trapped in mangled remains of the vehicles, an official told PTI.
Those injured were admitted to a hospital.
The police arrived at the spot soon after receiving information about the accident.
The road was cleared for traffic some time later.
The Samruddhi Highway is a 701-kilometer six-lane expressway connecting Mumbai and Nagpur.
The first phase of the highway connecting Nagpur to Shirdi was inaugurated in December 2022.
