Racing champion, wife charred to death as BMW catches fire

CHENNAI: Former national car racing champion Ashwin Sundar, 31, and his doctor wife Nivedhitha, 26, were charred to death after their BMW rammed a tree and burst into flames on Santhome High Road in Chennai in the early hours of Saturday. The vehicle got trapped between the tree and a wall of a house. Onlookers, some of whom even live-streamed the event, were unable to help the couple because of intense flames.
Witnesses later told police that the luxury car hit a road bump at high speed, before spin ning out of control and slamming into the tree.The flames rose more than 10 feet and Ashwin and his wife were not able to prise open the doors of the twin-seater car.Ashwin may have been driving very fast and may not have noticed the speed breaker, police said. Sources said the low slung engine had been modified by Ashwin according to his requirement. Information about the accident showed that the air bags were not released, a BMW expert said.
“Air bags will release only if the occupants fasten seat belts. The modifications in the engine may also have led to the accident. We never advise customers to do modifications,“ he said.
A team from the Adyar traffic investigation wing rushed to the spot. Soon, fire and rescue services personnel from Mylapore arrived and doused the fire after a half-an-hour battle. The bodies were extricated and sent to the Government Royapettah Hospital for postmortem. A case was registered under IPC Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder). Ashwin, 31, married Nivedhitha, 26, on February 14, 2016 and were planning a honeymoon later this month, police said, after talking to the families.
The couple lived at Astalakshmi Nagar near Alapakkam in Valasaravakkam. Ashwin's father Sundar told police the two left home around 11.30pm on Friday to visit a friend at Leela Palace hotel in MRC Nagar. A senior police officer said, “We checked the hotel register, but there was no entry of the couple.CCTV footage at the entrance also showed Ashwin and his wife didn't visit the hotel.“