An early morning cruise down East Coast Road went horribly wrong for a group of college girls on Sunday.
All, save for one, escaped by the skin of their teeth when the car driven by one of them went off the road while negotiating a bend in the road.
The deceased was identified as Aakrithi Dhingra (20), a resident of Village Road in Nungambakkam.
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The injured were Ridhi Ladhani (20), Sanjana (20), Utsha (19), Shika (20), Heersha (20) and Sneha Sunil (20). The girls were 3rd year students of B.Sc electronic media at MOP Vaishnav College for Women in Nungambakkam.
According to the traffic police, every Saturday, the girls would meet up at one of their houses and stay until quite late in the night.
The group gathered at Ridhi’s house on Medavakkam Tank Road in Kellys on Saturday. Around 2 a.m. on Sunday, they decided to go for a drive in Ridhi’s car.
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“They were going towards Mamallapuram at high speeds. When the car neared a bend near VGP Golden Beach in Injambakkam, Ridhi made a swift turn. The vehicle went out of control and flipped thrice before coming to a halt,” said inspector A.J. Ravikumaran.
Aakrithi who was in the front passenger seat, sustained severe head injuries and died on the spot, the officer said.
The other girls, including Ridhi who was behind the wheel, sustained injuries and were admitted to a private hospital. They are now out of danger.
The roof of the car, its windshields and right-side wheels were completely damaged in the accident. The vehicle was towed away to Shastri Nagar. The Adyar traffic investigation police are looking into the accident.
Aakrithi’s body was sent to Government Royapettah Hospital for post-mortem and handed over to her relatives on Sunday afternoon.