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Two people were killed and another person was seriously injured after an alleged late-night bike race led to a collision on the Peters Road flyover in Chennai on Wednesday, November 5.
The deceased were identified as G Kumaran, 49, who ran a fancy store in T Nagar, and S Syed Sardar Basha, 19, a first-year BCom student from Royapettah. A third youth, M Mohammed Suhail, 20, who works at a mobile phone shop, was critically injured and is currently being treated at the Royapettah Government Hospital.
According to police sources, Syed and Suhail were racing their high-end motorcycles near the Thousand Lights mosque around 11.15 pm. Their motorcycles reportedly collided, causing both riders to lose control. Syed’s bike then crashed head-on into Kumaran’s two-wheeler, which was coming from the opposite direction. Though Kumaran was wearing a helmet, the impact proved fatal, and both he and Syed died on the spot.
Kumaran was returning home from work. He was the sole breadwinner of his family and is survived by his wife and two daughters.
Eyewitnesses noticed smoke from the wreckage on the flyover and alerted police. Personnel from the Triplicane Traffic Investigation Wing recovered the bodies and sent them for post-mortem.
Preliminary investigation suggests the youths may have been recording the race for social media. Suhail’s accounts reportedly feature several videos of motorcycle stunts from various parts of the city.
Further investigation is in progress.