Four students died and two others were injured after the car in which they were travelling plunged into a flood canal on East Coast Road near Poonthandalam on Sunday morning.
According to police, the accident took place at 4.30 a.m. when the students, studying in two different engineering colleges on the outskirts of Chennai, were returning to the city from Puducherry.
R. Santhosh (17) of Kodungaiyur and car driver, S. Santhosh Kumar (18) of Perambur, had left Chennai on Saturday in the car belonging to R. Patrick Ashwin (18) of Kodungaiyur.
They were accompanied by three other friends – Anban Mahesh (19) of Madhavaram, S. Ashwin (17) of Perambur and B. Sundar (18) of Thanikachalam Nagar.
While they were on their way back to Chennai, Santhosh Kumar is reported to have lost control of the vehicle while negotiating the bridge across the flood canal on ECR near Poonthandalam village.
The car – a Maruti Suzuki Swift — veered into the causeway and overturned in the process, killing Sundar, Patrick, Ashwin and Anban on the spot.
Santhosh Kumar and R. Santhosh, who sustained injuries, were rescued by residents of Poonthandalam village and rushed to the Chengalpattu Medical College Hospital, Chengalpattu.
From there, they were brought to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, Chennai for further treatment, police said.
