A 19-year-old student of St Xavier’s College, Calcutta died after the car he was driving crashed into a lamppost on the median divider of Parama flyover around 12.30am on Saturday.
Four friends of Nihar Agarwal, who were in the car with him, were taken to SSKM Hostel. Police identified them as Partha Garodia, Prajjwal Agarwal, Anuradha Daga and Tanay Daga.
The four were later shifted to a private facility.
While Prajjwal was released from Belle Vue Clinic, the three others were admitted there till Saturday night.
“Among the three, the condition of one the boys is serious. Air has entered his lungs and there is a fracture of his hip bone,” said Pradip Tondon, the hospital’s CEO. “We are trying to stabilise his condition.”
The Maruti Suzuki Baleno that Nihar was driving had to be cut open to pull out the
four on the Salt Lake-bound ramp of Parama flyover, police said.
The group was out for a late-night drive and dinner, the police said.
“Nihar was a second-year BCom honours student and used to attend classes in the morning,” said Father Dominic Savio, principal of St Xavier’s College.
Nihar, Partha, 18, and Prajjwal, 26, are from the same housing complex, Ganges Residency, on Tollygunge Circular Road. Anuradha, 18, and Tanay, 17, are siblings and residents of Mudiali on SP Mukherjee Road, the police said.
“The car crashed with such intensity that the driver got stuck between the steering and the seat. Members of the disaster management group (DMG) were brought in and gas-cutters used to rip open the mangled car,” said a police officer.
“Doctors at SSKM Hospital said the driver was brought dead. We are trying to fix the car’s speed at the time of the crash. It appears that the driver was overspeeding at that hour and couldn’t control the vehicle,” he said.
The lamppost that the car crashed into got twisted under the impact.
Unable to stop, the car landed on the opposite flank of the flyover that takes vehicles towards Park Circus.
A team from Pragati Maidan police station reached the spot to find the car’s front fender flung away, the roof caved in and the front windshield smashed. There was no way to reach the injured trapped inside, the police said.
“We tried to break open the car but decided to call in the DMG team for the rescue. The car’s doors were cut open using gas cutters. An ambulance was called in to take the injured to SSKM Hospital,” said a police officer.
Park Circus-bound traffic from the Chingrighata-end of the EM Bypass over Parama flyover was diverted for over two hours to facilitate the rescue operation.
Senior police officers, engineers from the CESC and others were present for the rescue.
Traffic was allowed to move around the break of dawn after the injured were shifted and the car was taken to the Pragati Maidan police station.
Prajjwal told this newspaper that while he was back home, he remained worried about the condition of his three friends.