The Marathi actor was among the 8 people who were killed as their SUV fell into a deep gorge in Maharashtra's Raigad. Marathi actor Mahesh Pawar, who acted in the television show Appi Amchi Collector, has died due to a horrific road accident. He was 25. The accident occurred in the Ambenali Ghat area on Poladpur-Mahabaleshwar road, located about 180 km from Mumbai, reported news agency PTI. A total of eight persons were killed after a Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) plunged over 1,000 feet into a gorge in Maharashtra's Raigad district, officials said on Monday.Mahesh Pawar died after his car met with an accident.Marathi actor dies in road accidentDuring the investigation, the victims' last location was traced through a mobile tower near Poladpur. While searching in the Ambenali Ghat section, the police spotted the SUV in the deep gorge on Monday morning, the official said. The police suspect that the accident occurred after the driver lost control of the vehicle in the ghat area, following which it plunged into the gorge, he said.The victims, in the age group of 19 to 35, left from Harne in Dapoli at around 2 am on Sunday in the SUV. When they did not reach Satara, their relatives launched a search in the afternoon and later approached the police.More details about the victimsThe victims have been identified as Ritesh Lokhande (22), Suhas Lokhande (20), Utkarsh Shingte (21), Nikhil Shingte (25), Mahesh Pawar (25), Aditya Salunkhe (21), Rajesh Katkar (35), all the residents of Satara, and Ansh Chavan (19), belonging to Ratnagiri, according to police. Mahesh's death was confirmed by Lokmat.Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed grief over the death of eight persons and said rescue operations were being carried out on a war footing. The eight friends were on a trip when their vehicle plunged nearly 1,500 feet into a gorge in the hilly stretch, he said in a statement. The district administration launched immediate rescue and relief operations and formed five teams of seven members each to retrieve the bodies, the CM informed.Three bodies had been recovered so far, while efforts were underway to retrieve the remaining bodies with the help of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and voluntary rescue teams, he said.(via inputs from PTI)Santanu Das is a Senior Content Producer at Hindustan Times with over 5 years of experience, writing on films, pop culture and film festivals. He has a keen interest in writing about South Asian independent films and has covered several film festivals, including Sundance and CPH: Docx. He also brings a sharp perspective to the monthly column called The Fault in Our Stars, where he writes about a recent film/series and what stops the ‘good’ from becoming ‘great’.