A Pune road accident on the Old Mumbai Highway killed two siblings travelling on a two-wheeler, while the organ donation of the 16-year-old girl is expected to help four patients awaiting transplants at hospitals in the city.
The crash took place around 7 pm on Sunday near Poona Gate Hotel, according to Dehu Road police under the Pimpri-Chinchwad commissionerate. Police said the siblings were travelling from Dehu Road towards Nigdi when another motorcycle hit their vehicle from behind.
The 21-year-old brother died from injuries sustained in the crash, while his 16-year-old sister was critically injured and later declared brain dead. The siblings had reportedly visited the Ghorawadeshwar area and were returning home. The brother was an engineering student and the sister was studying in Class 12, police said.
The other two-wheeler rider was also injured and is undergoing treatment after surgery. Police have registered a case alleging rash driving and causing death by negligence. The investigation is being conducted by Dehu Road police, with an FIR registered following a complaint by the siblings’ uncle.
The siblings were first taken to YCM Hospital in Pimpri and later shifted to another hospital in Bhosari. The girl was subsequently moved to Jupiter Hospital in Pune, where doctors declared her brain dead on Tuesday. Her parents consented to organ donation as the family prepared to return to their native place in Udupi, Karnataka, for the final rites.
As part of the allocation process, the girl’s liver and one kidney will be transplanted into patients on the waiting list at Jupiter Hospital. Her other kidney will be sent to a patient at Sahyadri Hospital in Hadapsar. Officials from Jupiter Hospital’s transplant coordination team said the donation could provide a new chance of survival to critically ill patients, even as the family deals with the loss of both children.
The case has also highlighted the link between fatal road crashes and organ donation in the Pune region. The Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre’s Pune zone has recorded 60 organ donations so far this year, according to figures cited by the centre. Of these, 27 donors were declared brain dead, with road traffic accidents in Pune district and nearby areas accounting for most of those cases.
The Pune zone covers Pune, Satara, Sangli, Solapur and Kolhapur. Aarti Gokhale, chief central coordinator of ZTCC Pune Zone, said the allocation process for the donated organs was underway. The centre’s figures show that the donors declared brain dead so far this year included 22 men and five women.
While the donation process has created a route to treatment for patients awaiting transplants, activists cited in the report said the circumstances also underline the need to address road safety and prevent deaths caused by avoidable crashes. The police investigation into the collision and the organ allocation process remain the next official steps.
