Kota, March 18 A road trip to Ladakh ended in tragedy for three friends from Pune, as the car they were travelling in veered off the road and collided with the barrier before plunging from a flyover on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway stretch here on Wednesday, killing all three on the spot.
The deceased – Sidhant Allat (21), Kunal Chordiya (25) and Mayurewa Padle (23), all residents of Pune city in Maharashtra – were returning from their trip to Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir with seven other friends, when the accident took place around 10:30 am near Balapura village under the Kaithoon police station limits.
The 10-member group had left for the trip on February 26, and were travelling in three cars. During the return journey on Wednesday morning, while two other cars stopped at a rest stop along the expressway, the one carrying the deceased did not, instead speeding along the route back home.
Kaithoon Station House Officer Manoj Sikarwal said that the driver apparently dozed off at the wheel, causing the vehicle to veer off the road and crash into the barrier, before taking a plunge from the flyover.
The car was completely destroyed upon impact, and the three occupants sustained fatal injuries. They were rushed to a local hospital, where they were declared dead, he said.
The bodies of the deceased have been sent for post-mortem at the mortuary of Community Health Centre Kaithoon, and further investigation is underway, he added.