Solapur (Maharashtra), June 18 (IANS): At least five women farmers were mowed down while two others were critically injured after a speeding truck ran over them on the Karad-Pandharpur highway in Solapur, the police said on Tuesday.

The tragedy occurred at around 4.15 p.m. when the seven women farm workers were returning to their homes in Phatfal village in the Sangola area after completing their day’s work, Inspector Bhimrao Khandale told IANS from the accident spot.

As the women waited on the roadside for a state transport bus to Phatfal, a truck loaded with coal suddenly came speeding on the highway and ran over them near Bandgarwadi village before crashing to a halt some distance away.

On hearing the screams, other farmers and villagers rushed to the spot and informed the Sangola police.

They also got hold of the truck driver and handed him over to the police, who arranged for an ambulance to shift the injured women to a hospital in Pandharpur.

Khandale said that a huge crowd of angry villagers had gathered at the accident spot, demanding stringent action against the truck driver.

“We have shifted the injured to the Pandharpur hospital, and removed the bodies from the spot which is being cleared for traffic movement,” said Khandale.

As per preliminary information, the truck driver reportedly lost control while negotiating a bend on the road and rammed into the women waiting for a bus on the roadside.