Birthday horror: Speeding SUV crammed with 11 pals jumps divider, rams truck on Matunga flyover

MUMBAI: A birthday celebration ended abruptly with the birthday boy and 10 of his friends landing in hospital early on Sunday. The 11 friends from Bhandup, all of them crammed into an SUV , had cut a cake in Bhandup to usher in the friend's 26th birthday, and were headed towards Marine Drive for a little do in town when they met with an accident on Matunga flyover.The police said some of the youths were possibly drunk. All the occupants of the SUV sustained injuries.
Around 2 am, the Scorpio in which they were travelling jumped the divider, crossed over to the other carriageway and overturned before ramming into an oncoming truck. A police officer said the car was zipping when Parag Shirke (31) lost control of the wheel and collided with the truck being driven by a Dongri resident, Munzir Khan (25).
The other occupants of the SUV have been identified as the birthday boy Ajay Jadhav, Mangesh Sawant (37), Siddesh Kadam (21), Ritik Kamekar (17), Ketan Rasem (23), Pratamesh Kadam (22), Vijay Jadhav (29), Harshat Jadhav (26), Ashish Sawant (32) and Megan Parep (25). All were taken to the nearby Sion hospital. Shirke, Sawant and Khan sustained fractures.
Senior police inspector Balasaheb Kakkad said, “The car was speeding. We have found a 50-ft tyre track mark on the road. Also, a beer bottle was found in the car.“ Another officer said blood samples of all youths have been collected. A rash driving case has been registered.