VELLORE: Two engineering students, aged 19, died in a road accident involving two cars which they were racing here on Friday. The mishap was caused allegedly due to drunken-driving and driving at a high speed. While one sustained multiple injuries, five others in the same car escaped unhurt.
The accident occurred on the overbridge along the NH 46 at Shanpakkam in Vellore Taluk Police Station limits between 12.05 am and 12.15 am on Friday. “The youth were racing against each other in two cars at nearly a speed of 200 km/hr. They were going towards Vellore,” said a traffic police officer, quoting an eyewitness.
The deceased were identified as Dunna Sandeep of Visakapattinam and Sandeep Velaka, who died on the spot. “They were students of a renowned educational institute near Vellore,” said a police officer.
Within five minutes, the traffic police reached the spot and rescued a youth trapped in one of the cars. He was shifted to the Government Vellore Medical College Hospital, where he is battling for life. The five others escaped without injuries. “A motorist spotted the two cars a minute before it met with the accident. The cars zipped past him,” said police.
Without noticing a curve on the bridge, they were overtaking a container lorry. On seeing the curve a few metres away, the youth having an edge over the other car applied brakes. And the car coming behind hit the side of car ahead. Under the impact, one of the cars hit the median and rolled over for nearly 30 metres. The other car hit a lamp-post and damaged five pedestrian guardrails and came to a halt. The traffic was affected for nearly 30 minutes.
Hours before the accident, a police patrol found the students drunk and quarrelling near Mount Paradise Hotel in
Sathuvachari.
Police warned them and asked them to leave the place. “One of our police personnel spotted the two cars crossing the green circle and heading towards Pallikonda at a high speed at 11 pm on Thursday,” added the traffic police.
A case has been registered in this regard and investigations are on.