CHENNAI: A 21-year-old medical student died and four others sustained serious injuries after a BMW car they were travelling in rammed into a lorry on the Thiruporur-Kalavakkam road early on Thursday. The deceased has been identified as Misba Fathima (21) from Vellore.
According to police, ten students from a private medical college in Chromepet had gone on a trip to Mahabalipuram on Wednesday night in two luxury cars. After attending a party at a star hotel, the group hung out at a beach until 3 am and began their return journey to the college hostel.
Instead of driving through Thiruporur town, both cars took the bypass road and were reportedly racing. One of the vehicles, a BMW, crashed into the rear of a firewood-laden lorry that was parked by the road. The car was mangled in the impact, and onlookers along with local residents and the students in the second car immediately attempted to rescue those trapped inside the car. Police and ambulance services were alerted.
The Thiruporur police reached the spot and began rescue operations; they had to use an earthmover to pull apart the crushed car to extract those trapped inside.
Misba, who was an Allied Health Sciences student, died on the spot, while Abhinandan (22), an MBBS student from Coimbatore, S Senbhaga Vinayagam (23) from Tirunelveli, Mohammad Ali (21) from Kerala, and Navya (21) suffered severe injuries and were rushed to a private hospital in Kelambakkam. The BMW was driven by Abhinandan, a fourth-year MBBS student, said the police.
The body of the deceased was sent to Chengalpattu Government Hospital for post-mortem.
The Thiruporur police registered a case and arrested the lorry driver Subash (40) of Cuddalore for parking on a bypass road in violation of traffic rules.