A man travelling in a Maruti Alto with four friends died after the vehicle rammed into the rear of a stationary bus in Patuli on the southeastern fringes of Kolkata early on Friday.
Four others, including the driver — a civic volunteer with Magrahat police station in South 24-Parganas district — were injured.
Police said the person at the wheel was in an inebriated state and had dozed off when the accident happened. Later, investigators found that he did not have his driving licence with him.
It was not clear till Friday evening if the driver had a valid licence because he was admitted to hospital and the cops could not interrogate him.
The deceased was identified as Sirajul Sardar, 40, a resident of Magrahat.
Saidul Sheikh, 38, Arsadul Sheikh, 36, Amit Sardar, 33, who was at the wheel, and Bhaskar Purakait, 38, were taken to Baghajatin State General Hospital. Later, they were shifted to Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital.
The accident happened between Patuli crossing and Dhalai bridge on EM Bypass when the car was headed towards South 24-Parganas around 7am.
Eyewitnesses said they saw the car come at a very high speed and crash into the luxury bus that was stationed on the left side of the road. One of them said there was no other vehicle on the road and the Maruti Alto skidded and hit the bus.
The police said the speed of the car could be ascertained after a forensic examination and mechanical test of the car.
“The man who died on the spot was sitting at the back. He died with head injuries,” said deputy commissioner traffic (south) Atul V.
The accident happened less than a week after a Honda City, allegedly driven by a man in an intoxicated state, had rammed into two roadside stalls near Jadavpur and killed one pedestrian on the spot. In that case, too, the driver was not carrying his licence.
Train kills two in Sealdah
Two youths were killed after they were hit by a speeding suburban train in Sealdah’s Laxmikantapur section on Friday afternoon.
Police said Saurav Bairk and Rezaul Sheikh were glued to their mobile phones and had their ear phones on them.
The bodies were removed and sent for post-mortem.