IANS

GURGAON, Jun 12: In another gruesome reminder of what drunken driving can do, three teenagers died on early Saturday after their car turned turtle thrice over before smashing into a divider on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway. The fourth occupant, Tapan, miraculously escaped with a few gashes.

The accident was so horrific that the head of one of those dead was severed while the bodies of the other two were badly disfigured.

The accident site was a bloody mess. Such was the impact of the collision with the divider that the car literally split into three pieces.

"From eyewitness accounts, the car was speeding at over 100 km per hour. Considering the damage wrought to the car, the driver must have lost control," Assistant Commissioner of Police (East) Sumit Kuhar said.

"They were driving at breakneck speed. After it passed me on the highway I saw the Tata Indigo a few minutes later. It was a wreck," said Rohit Michael, an eyewitness.

Siddharth, Karan and Divanshu, all aged 16, were students of the G.D. Goenka World School and had appeared for their class 10 examinations. Tapan had finished his class 9 from Amity International School. All were residents of Gurgaon.

All four teenagers had gone to a pub in New Delhi's Samrat Hotel Friday and left close to midnight.

"A driver had dropped us at the hotel. After partying all of us decided to get home on our own and we borrowed a car from one of our colleagues. Divanshu insisted on driving the car. I told him that he was very drunk and it was not safe for him to drive," said Tapan, recuperating at the Gurgaon Civil Hospital, admitting they were all drunk.

Kuhar, however, said it was Tapan who was on the wheel and was inebriated.

"He (Divanshu) was driving dangerously. When our car reached Gurgaon it hit the roadside, I do not remember exactly where on the highway. I gained consciousness in the hospital later and got to know that all of them had died," added Tapan.   

A case of rash and negligent driving has been registered and police are investigating who actually was driving the vehicle.

This is not the first time that the expressway, which opened in February, has seen such shocking accidents. Earlier this month, two young executives were killed on the spot in a hit and run incident.

In April a bus dragged a car with three occupants inside for a considerable distance before the car was crushed against the railings. All three passengers died.

In February, two motorcyclists were killed at the busy South City crossing, again by an unknown vehicle.