Four friends among eight killed in twin road mishaps in Punjab

Eight people were killed in road accidents in Patiala and Hoshiarpur districts on Sunday. In Patiala, four friends were killed while two were seriously injured when the car they were travelling in turned turtle before hitting a roadside tree near Aviation Club on the Patiala-Sangrur road around 6am when they were returning from Barnala after attending the wedding of their friend’s sister.

Navkiran Singh of Abohar, Lovepreet Singh of Lehra Mohabbat in Bathinda, Raman Kumar of Fazilka and Jagjiwan Kumar of Bareta in Mansa district, all in their 20s and students of department of agriculture in Government Mohindra College, Patiala, died on the spot.

The injured, Jashandeep Sharma of Mohali and Chanpreet Singh of Barnala were referred to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, from Government Rajindra Hospital in Patiala.

Eyewitnesses told the police that the car was being driven at high speed, said investigating officer Gurdeep Singh. The bodies have been handed over to the family after inquest proceedings. “It’s a tragic incident. The deceased were students of BSc final year,” said college principal Sangeeta Handa.

In Hoshiarpur, four people were killed while another was injured after the Chevrolet Cruze (PB-07-AF-5541) they were travelling in rammed into a tree in the wee hours of Sunday on the Chandigarh road near Mahilpur, 18km from district headquarters.

Mahilpur Swarankar Union president Kamal Kishore, 48, and his three relatives — Gaurav Bagga, 38, who was behind the wheel, Amit Kumar, 45, and his wife Pooja, 42, of Rambagh area in Jalandhar — died on the spot.

Kishore’s wife Monica, 43, was seriously injured and was rushed to the Mahilpur civil hospital from where she was referred to Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana.

Police said the accident took place shortly after the victims resumed their journey after having dinner at a dhaba near Chabbewal, the police said.

The other members of the family, who were in another car, informed the police. Bodies were taken out of the car with the help of locals and were sent to the Garhshankar civil hospital for post-mortem. Gaurav’s wife Roopal said everything happened in the blink of an eye. “Something must have gone wrong. A tyre burst might have led to the accident,” she said.