Raigad: A picnic trip for six young men from Pune ended in tragedy after their SUV plunged approximately 400 feet into a deep gorge at the dangerous Tamhini Ghat mountain pass in Raigad district. The victims, aged between 18 and 22, were found dead on Thursday, two days after the accident is believed to have occurred.

The group had departed from Pune in a Thar SUV late Monday evening.

Tamhini Ghat, a scenic mountain road linking Raigad and Pune districts, is a popular picnic spot.

Two days missing, search launched

Panic set in for the families when they lost all contact with the young men on Tuesday morning. After reporting their sons missing, police initiated a search operation led by the Mangaon police station.

Investigators successfully traced the last known mobile phone locations to the Tamhini Ghat area. The search teams quickly found a broken safety railing along a sharp curve in the road, pointing to the exact spot where the vehicle had veered off.

Due to the extreme depth and treacherous terrain of the gorge, police deployed a drone camera, which located the destroyed SUV stuck amidst the dense trees in the valley below.

There were no eyewitnesses, but it is suspected that the driver lost control of the wheel at the spot leading to the accident.

A rescue team of Raigad Police and local volunteers recovered the bodies on Thursday afternoon, he said, adding that all the victims were identified.

The bodies were sent to a government hospital and will be handed over to the relatives after autopsies, the official said.