Onam celebrations turned into tragedy for a group of college students, after the van that they were travelling in fell into a deep well on the outskirts of Coimbatore in the early hours of Friday, September 9. A group of four students were heading back to their friend’s house after Onam celebrations at a private club when the accident took place, police said. One of the students, who was driving the car, lost control of the vehicle and the car fell into a 120-feet deep well, and three of them sustained injuries and drowned.
Roshan (18) had brought three of his friends — Aadarsh, Ravi and Nandanan — to his house to celebrate Onam on Thursday, following which all four of them left for a private club in Siruvani to continue the celebrations. The next morning, all four of them left the club to return to Roshan’s house. When they reached Thennamanallur near Thondamuthur, Roshan, who was driving the car, reportedly lost control of it, and it veered off the road and fell into the well. However, while Roshan managed to escape, the other three youngsters drowned along with the car as they were unable to escape from it, police said. They added that Roshan was driving in a rash and negligent manner, resulting in the tragic accident. The 18-year-old sustained injuries during the ordeal, they said.
According to police sources, Fire and Rescue Service personnel used a crane to retrieve one of the bodies from the vehicle, and efforts were on to fish out the remaining bodies and the vehicle. Visuals from the site show parts of the car that were fished out from the well, which were broken and battered. A case has been registered and further investigations are on, police said.
(With PTI inputs)