Shabana Azmi critically injured in a road accident

NEW DELHI: Veteran Bollywood actress Shabana Azmi has gotten critically injured in a horrific accident on the Mumbai-Pune Express in India.

According to NDTV, Javed Akhtar, the husband of Azmi, was also in the car but did not suffer injuries.

The accident took place around 3:30 pm near Khalapur, about 60 kilometres from Mumbai, when the Tata Safari SUV the 69-year-old actor was travelling in, rammed a truck from behind.

Photos of the incident show Shabana Azmi being helped out of the rear seats of the SUV, her face and eye swollen.

Such was the impact that the front passenger’s side of the SUV was completely destroyed. A photo shows the bonnet of the car crumpled and the radiator and bonnet wrecked.

Shabana Azmi was rushed to MGM hospital in Navi Mumbai and is undergoing treatment, news agency PTI quoted Raigad Superintendent of Police Anil Paraskar as saying.

Highway police patrol teams have rushed to investigate the accident site, news agency IANS reported.

The Mumbai-Pune Expressway is the first six-lane concrete, access controlled highway in the country. The 94.5 km stretch connects Mumbai to Pune and reduces the travel time between the two cities to just two hours from the regular four on the older route. Over the years, the expressway has seen numerous accidents, being a high speed stretch.

Shabana Azmi, who was awarded the Padma Shri in 1998 and National Film Award five times, is known for her work in several critically-acclaimed movies like Ankur, Arth and Mandi.

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