CHENNAI: A late-night joyride turned tragic for a group of medical students when their luxury car rammed into a firewood-laden lorry, which the police said, was parked illegally on the Thiruporur bypass road on Thursday early morning. The collision left a female student dead and four other students critically injured.
The deceased has been identified as Misbah Fathima (21), a third-year Allied Health Sciences student at Balaji Medical College, Chromepet, and a native of Vellore.
The police said the deceased was among a group of 10 students who had driven to Mahabalipuram in two cars on Wednesday night. Abhinandan (22), a final-year MBBS student from Coimbatore, was driving the ill-fated car. He was accompanied by fellow medical student Vinayagam (23) from Tirunelveli, and Allied Health Sciences students Mohammed Ali (21) and Navya (21), both natives of Kerala.
After dinner and spending time at the beach until 3 am, the group was returning to Chromepet. While traversing the Thiruporur bypass, police sources said, the first car had travelled a significant distance ahead, while the other car, driven by Abhinandan, was trailing behind. Soon after, the second car crashed violently into the rear of the lorry parked on the side of the road. Police sources said the lorry was parked in a way that posed a danger to the oncoming traffic.
While some media reports suggested the drivers of the two cars were racing with each other, officials said it may not have been the case. However, they are probing whether the cars were overspeeding.
The Thiruporur police pulled out the victims from the crushed vehicle. While Fathima died on the spot, the others were initially rushed to Chengalpattu Government Hospital and later to a private hospital in Kelambakkam. The police said the condition of the four injured students remains critical.
Investigations revealed the lorry belonged to Prabhakaran from Cuddalore district, and was transporting firewood to Kalahasti in Andhra Pradesh. The lorry driver, Subhash (40), was arrested for parking the heavy vehicle dangerously on the highway. Parking on the highway carriageway is prohibited under Section 122 of the Motor Vehicles Act, the police said. Further investigations are under way.