LUCKNOW:
A live video from inside a car clocking 230 kilometres per hour (kmph) on Uttar Pradesh’s Purvanchal Expressway right before a fatal crash has gone viral on social media. The video, tragically, also features a prophetic comment from one of the victims, who said “charo marenge (all four of us will die)”, while livestreaming the speedometer of the luxury car.
Four people were killed in the horrific car crash while speeding on the expressway on Friday. The BMW car the group was travelling in was chasing 300 kilometres per hour (kmph) when it rammed into a container truck coming from the opposite side and was reduced to a mangled heap, with the bloody bodies of its occupants strewn nearby.
The car was on its way from Sultanpur to Delhi.
Dr Anand Prakash, a 35-year-old Professor at a private medical college in Rohtas was reportedly behind the wheel while one of his co-travellers can be heard egging him on to touch 300 km per hour. Ironically, he said “charo marenge (all four of us will die)” during the live stream right before encouraging the driver to speed up.
Dr Prakash asked everyone to fasten their seatbelts and assured them he would speed up once he finds a long deserted stretch on the road.
The video shows a can placed next to the driver and the person streaming the video appears to be slurring, though there’s no confirmation if any of them were under the influence of alcohol.
The collision was so severe that the engine of the car and all four occupants were blown away and fell at some distance, visuals from the crash site show.
The police and Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) officials soon rushed to the spot to carry out relief and rescue operations, an official said.
The victims have been identified as Anand Prakash, a resident of Dehri, Bihar, Akhilesh Singh, who was a realtor, Deepak Kumar, an engineer — both from Aurangabad, Bihar — and a businessman named Mukesh. All of them were in their mid-30s.
The container driver, who has been charged with causing death due to negligence, fled the spot. Cops are trying to trace him.
The expressway, connecting Lucknow to Ghazipur district in eastern Uttar Pradesh, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2021, ahead of the Assembly elections in February-March.
