Youth killed, 3 hurt in mishap in Sanpada

A 20-year-old man was killed and three others were injured when their car met with an accident on Palm Beach Road in Sanpada early on Thursday. The car skidded for a few metres before hitting the side wall and turned turtle while two tyres got detached from the vehicle, said police.

The four men — Omkar Bhagat, Omkar Shinde, Harshal Patil and Stalin Fernandes, all aged between 20 and 22 — are residents of Bonkhode village in Koparkhairane and were travelling in Bhagat’s car. Fernandes died in the crash, while Patil is in a critical condition and the other two suffered major injuries.

The group had gone out for a joyride along Palm Beach Road when the accident took place around 1.45am. They had reached sector 6 near Sarsole junction when Patil was unable to control the speed. Police said the skid marks stretched for several metres indicating that Patil tried to apply brakes but the car was at a “dangerously high speed”.

Patil ended up hitting the car on the side wall of the road and the vehicle rolled over after the impact. Two tyres were detached from the car by the time it landed on the ground, said police.

Fernandes, who was sitting behind Patil, had the maximum impact as the car suffered heavy damage on the driver’s side.

“We rushed them to Apollo Hospital, where Fernandes died during treatment. Patil is currently critical. We have contacted their families and registered a case against Patil,” said Keshav Dinde, assistant inspector, Sanpada police station.

The police have registered a case against Patil for rash driving and causing death due to negligence. It is not clear if either of them were drunk at the time of driving the car as police did not conduct a test to determine their blood alcohol levels.

“There was heavy blood loss and they were rushed to the hospital. We will investigate if they were drunk and also verify the documents while conducting further probe,” Dinde added.