Three students died and one was injured after a BMW crashed on Mumbai’s Coastal Road.
The deceased were identified as Dhairya Sheth, 17; Aditya Jakasania, 19; and Shanay Gajjar, 21, who was driving his family car. Aditya Oswal, 23, suffered multiple injuries and is being treated at BYL Nair Hospital. Police said the driver appeared to have lost control while speeding.
Police said Gajjar, who was driving, was still partly inside the car, with his leg on the accelerator. All four were from Gujarat and were studying at two colleges in Mumbai. The crash came to light after a motorist alerted the police control room that a vehicle had fallen from the road. A police team reached the area and, while trying to locate the exact spot, was directed there by a watchman who had witnessed the accident. The impact was severe: one victim was thrown about 20ft from the car, while another was found outside the vehicle. All airbags had deployed. Police traced the BMW through its registration number and contacted Gajjar’s father, who arrived in Mumbai to claim his son’s body. Gajjar and Oswal were studying architecture at a college in Kurla, while Sheth and Jakasania were students at a well-known management college in the western suburbs. The four were staying in hostels or as paying guests in Santacruz and Juhu.
CCTV footage showed the BMW speeding before the crash.
Residents said the family was in shock and awaiting the medico-legal formalities before the body is brought to Ahmedabad. Jakasania’s family had also left their home at Shompole Apartment near Sindhu Bhavan for Mumbai.
Senior inspector Mina Jagtap of Tardeo police said blood samples of the victims had been collected and would be sent to the Kalina Forensic Science Laboratory. Police said they would register accidental death cases and also cases under relevant provisions for causing death by negligence and rash and negligent driving. The postmortems were conducted at Nair Hospital. Police did not confirm reports that one of the victims was wearing a party ribbon.