Two engineering students were killed when their speeding car hit a road divider, rolled on to the opposite carriageway and rammed into another car head-on in east Delhi’s Mayur Vihar late on Wednesday.

The car was reduced to a mangled heap of metal and also left seven others injured, police said.

The deceased have been identified as Vishal, 20, and Ujjwal Tyagi, 22, residents of Arya Nagar Apartment in IP Extension.

Police said they were returning home from Noida with friends Samarth Saxena, Shubham Dudeja, Sagar, and Neeraj when the incident occurred around 11.30 pm.

The youths, all in their early twenties, are engineering students of private colleges.

“They were travelling in a WagonR on Noida Link Road. Samarth was driving the car and lost control over the wheels near Delhi Police Apartment in Mayut Vihar Phase 1,” said a police officer.

Samarth told police that they were returning after attending a party and he lost control while coming down a flyover in speed.

A Swift was on opposite carriageway, and its driver also failed to prevent the accident despite immediately stopping the vehicle.

“The WagonR went on to hit its front,” the officer added. Roadside vendors confirmed the sequence of the incident and also said the WagonR car was speeding.

Eyewitnesses took the injured to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital and Jeevan Anmol Hospital, but Vishal and Ujjwal were declared brought dead.

Himmatpuri-resident Siddharth Agnihotri, a software engineer, was driving the Swift.
He was returning home from a gurdwara with his wife and son, but only his wife sustained injuries.

“Siddharth’s wife Kawaljot sustained head injury, while Neeraj and Shubham sustained spine injuries.

Rest of the injured were discharged after first-aid treatment. Neeraj was later referred to Osmania Hospital in Ghaziabad,” the officer said.

A case under sections 279 (rash driving), 337 (causing hurt) and 304-A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against Samarth with Pandav Nagar police station.

“Samarth has not been arrested. The investigation into the accident is still being conducted. The footage of CCTV cameras installed on the road has also been analysed to establish the sequence of events,” the officer added.

Investigating officers have denied that Samarth and his friends had consumed alcohol. The car was owned by Sagar, a resident of Pitampura.