Three people died and four others were seriously injured after a speeding car went off the road and turned over on National Highway (NH) 44, close to the Chattanpally by-pass road near Telangana's Shadnagar town on Friday.
The police said that eight people were travelling in the car and they were all in their 20s. The deceased were identified as Venkatesh, Bhaskar and Abhilash, and the young men were said to have been going to Anantapur from Hyderabad, to attend the marriage of their friend's sister. Many of them were engineering students from GITAM University in the city.
While initial reports suggested that the vehicle hit a large stone before overturning, the police later established that overspeeding was the cause of the accident, and said that the car was travelling at an estimated 130 km/hr when the accident took place.
"Lokesh (who was driving the car) was overspeeding and lost control while overtaking a lorry," Inspector Sreedhar Kumar was quoted as saying.
While Venkatesh and Bhaskar died on the spot, Abhilash died while undergoing treatment at the Osmania General Hospital (OGH) in Hyderabad. Four more occupants of the car are availing treatment, including the driver of the car.
Locals who were present at the accident spot had helped shift the injured to a nearby hospital and a crane was later called in by authorities to turn the car over.
Data with the police also showed that the vehicle had three challans pending for overspeeding. While two challans were issued on October 2, the third challan was issued at 12:40 pm on Friday, just hours before the accident, for speeding near Chennama Hotel under the limits of the Rajendra Nagar Traffic police.
If only their parents had noticed that they received overspeeding challan on the same date of accident and thrice within same month, it could have been avoided. Sad that young lives were lost.@tkp1080 @TrafficSahayak @MORTHRoadSafety pic.twitter.com/matyw3uHT5
— SatyaHari (@SatyaHari7) October 11, 2019
A case has been registered against Lokesh by the Shadnagar police, under Sections 279 (Rash Driving), 337 (Causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 304A (Causing death by negligence).