College student killed as car smashes median

Chennai: An 18-year-old engineering student was killed and ten others were injured on Thursday night when the

car

he was driving ran amok and rammed a median near Muttukadu.

Police identified the deceased as Deepak Raj of Sathya Nagar in Kovilampakkam. The victim, along with ten other friends, was going to Mamallapuram when the accident took place.

Police said Shakthivel was driving the car along

ECR

, when he lost control of the vehicle and hit the median. The car ran amok and hit a lamp post before it rammed a tree and came to a halt.

Deepakraj, who was in the front seat died on the spot, while Shakthivel, Mukesh, Rakesh, Jai, Ajai, Riyaz, Vijaybabu and three others escaped with injuries. The injured were admitted in different private hospitals in Perumbakkam and Kelambakkam and two other victims were taken to government hospital at Royapettah. Police said all of them suffered head injuries.

Traffic came to a standstill for more than an hour as police had to take away the car’s mangled remains. Deepak Raj’s body was sent for postmortem to the government hospital at Royapettah. The condition of other victims is said to be stable.

“The car was speeding on the stretch, so the driver could not bring it under control. There was very less vehicular movement on the road at the time of accident,” said an investigating officer.

Adyar traffic investigation registered a case under IPC section 304 (A) (causing death due to negligence) and are investigating.