Raigad (Maharashtra), Apr 28 (IANS): Six motorists were hurt when at least 11 big and small vehicles crashed into each other after the brakes of a truck failed on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway on Thursday, officials said.

The pile-up occurred around 1 pm on the Pune-Mumbai lane near the Bhor Ghat section when a truck apparently lost control and rammed into 11 vehicles ahead, said Raigad Superintendent of Police Somnath Gharge.

Panicking after the accident, the unidentified truck driver abandoned his vehicle and ran away from there, as a major traffic snarl built up.

Soon afterwards, the police reached the spot and managed to shift all the affected vehicles to enable restore normal traffic on this busy thoroughfare, and the six persons injured were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment, he said.

The police have launched a hunt for the absconding truck-driver and normal traffic has resumed on the expressway later.

Preliminary police probe suggests that the truck's brakes may have failed leading the driver to lose control and the resultant pile-up.