India, May 16 -- PUNE: The Mumbai-Pune Expressway witnessed two major accidents on Friday evening near the newly inaugurated Missing Link section, triggering massive traffic congestion and raising fresh concerns over commuter safety on the high-speed route. The back-to-back mishaps, which occurred within hours of each other on the Mumbai-bound carriageway near Borghat and the exit point of the Missing Link tunnel route, left three persons dead, several injured and thousands of motorists stranded in kilometres-long traffic snarls.

According to the highway police, the first and more serious accident took place around 5.05 pm on the Mumbai-bound lane of the Expressway, shortly after the Missing Link tunnel stretch. A truck transporting pain...