B’day boy, friend die as car rams median on ECR

The deceased, M Safin (19), first-year BBA student, was from Mannadi, and A Ashmed Fahim (19), a BArch student, was from George Town. The injured were identified as Yasar (19), a third-year BCom student, Saifullah (20), a second-year BE student, Mohammed Sahiyudeen (19), a second-year BBA student, and Afil (19), a second-year BSc student.

The car, belonging to Alif’s uncle, was driven by a hired driver, S Musaraf (20) from Royapettah, who escaped with minor injuries as he was wearing seat belt. Police said the students hail from the same locality and used to go to college in Vandalur together. 

On Saturday night, they went to a resort in Akkarai beach to celebrate Fahim’s birthday. On the way back, the driver lost control when they were near Injambakkam around 2 am, and rammed the median. “In the impact, the car rolled over for few meters and hit a tree, an electric pole and a shop before coming to a halt,” said police.

The driver was not drunk, but the students were said to be inebriated. As there were six passengers, two were sitting in front without wearing seatbelt. “Safin and Ashmed were partially out of car before it hit the tree and were dragged for some distance,” said the officer.

Locals alerted the ambulance and the police. Saifullah was sent to the Rajiv Gandhi Government hospital to treat his head injuries, while others were admitted to Government Royapettah hospital. The bodies of Safin and Ashmed Fahim were sent for post-mortem examination. Adyar traffic investigation police have booked Musaraf on charges of rash driving and causing death due to negligence.