It began like any other night. We were on our way back from work on a bike, riding towards the Adyar bridge, eager to get back home.
It was around 1.45 a.m. We had just crossed MRC Hall on Santhome High Road and were about to reach the curve on the road near the Ayappan temple, when something suddenly hurtled past us on the opposite lane. It was so fast that it was all a blur. Moments later, we saw a ball of fire. Our first thought was that a junction box had caught fire.
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Only later did the realisation dawn on us that it was a car moving at breakneck speed that had lost control, hit a tree and exploded. We heard a bang, a scream from inside the car, and then, there was a sickening silence, punctuated only by the crackle of the flames. We immediately got down from the bike and tried to move towards the spot, at the same time trying to call 100. Other motorists too had stopped and rushed as close to the car as possible. As we got closer amid the several explosions, they called out to us to not venture too close. They told us they had seen a woman in the passenger seat.
A constable told us the fire engines had been called. The police reached the spot quickly and the fire brigade 15 minutes later. By then, it was too late.
We were stunned initially, and frankly there was no time, so we clicked no pictures, but later, we wondered if it would be right to click, given what we came to know of the circumstances — two persons had died in the accident.
