A BMW convertible carrying three friends crashed on an under-construction section of the Mumbai-Vadodara Expressway near Badlapur in the early hours of Sunday, killing two occupants of the car and seriously injuring a third.
Police said the car was traveling at speeds of up to 251 kilometers per hour before it hit a barrier and overturned several times.
The accident occurred around 2.30am on Sunday when the luxury sports car, which was carrying three friends, hit a barrier and overturned several times.
The force of the collision was so intense that the car was destroyed beyond recognition, while the passengers were ejected from the convertible, HT reported earlier.
A birthday outing ends in tragedy
The deceased have been identified as Yogesh Kishan Negi, 26, a resident of Badlapur, and Rebecca Babu Jacob, 22, of Bandra. The sole survivor, Angad Gill, 24, also from Badlapur, remains in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Kalyan with serious injuries.
Read also | Two people were killed and another injured after a BMW collided at a speed of 251 kilometers per hour on the unopened Badlapur Expressway.
According to investigators, the trio had gone out to celebrate Negi’s birthday and were returning home when the incident occurred near Irangad in Badlapur.
Police believe that the group had already made several rounds on the highway before the accident and was traveling from Panvel towards Titwala when they lost control of the vehicle.
What does the video show?
A video clip circulated on social media, allegedly recorded inside the car moments before the accident, shows the speedometer touching 251 kilometers per hour.
The most important details of the investigation so far:
- The BMW convertible was allegedly traveling at speeds of up to 251 kilometers per hour.
- The car hit a barrier on an under-construction section of the Mumbai-Vadodara Expressway.
- The car flipped several times before stopping.
- The convertible’s open roof resulted in the occupants being ejected from the vehicle during the accident.
- The bodies of the deceased were found about 500 meters from the impact site.
- The severed body parts were scattered over a distance of 50 to 100 metres.
- Police have not yet determined who was behind the wheel.
Who was driving?
One of the main questions investigators are trying to answer is who was driving the BMW at the time of the accident.
Read also | BMW car crashes at speed of 251 km/h near Badlapur in Maharashtra; Two people were killed and their body parts were scattered 500 meters away
The car is registered in the name of Gill’s father, who runs a manufacturing company in Badlapur. However, police said they have not yet been able to conclusively determine who was driving the car when the accident occurred.
Police suspect speeding and poor visibility
According to the preliminary investigation, the driver may have lost control while driving at an extremely high speed in the dark on a road still under construction.
Investigators suspect that the break may not have been noticed in time. Although there are indications that the brakes were applied before the collision, the vehicle’s speed appears to have left little room for recovery.
Senior Police Inspector Kishore Shinde of Badlapur West police station said the open nature of the car contributed significantly to the severity of the injuries.
“Since the car was open with the hood open, the occupants were ejected on impact, resulting in fatal injuries. We still do not know who was driving the car at the time of the accident. The family members are not in a state to speak and we are waiting to record their statements,” Shinde said.
Questions about unopened highway access
The incident also raised questions about how the group entered a section of the highway that had not yet been opened for public use.
According to police, the ten-lane road where the accident occurred is still under construction and not ready for operation.
“The ten-lane expressway is not working. Due to the wideness of the road, the youths apparently drove the car at a very high speed. There are no street lights on the stretch and they may not have noticed the barrier in time. Even though they applied brakes, the car hit the barrier and the force of the collision threw the passengers back about 500 metres,” Shinde said as per a report by HT earlier.
Authorities are now investigating the circumstances under which the car managed to reach the unopened section of the Mumbai-Vadodara Expressway, even as efforts continue to determine what exactly happened in the final seconds before one of the state’s most horrific road accidents in recent memory occurred.
