3 teenage boys killed as car plunges into Verna gorge

Margao/Vasco: Three teenage boys from Sanguem taluka were killed on Sunday   as the car in which they were travelling went off the road and plunged into a 16-feet-deep gorge near the Verna Industrial Estate.

Police identified the dead teenagers as Rowan Sequeira (14), Eathan Fernandes (15), both from Sanguem, and Joshua Barretto (15) of Curchorem.

Giving details of the accident, Maina-Curtorim police said the three boys had come to the industrial estate in a long drive in the car on Sunday afternoon. They were taking rounds in the Maruti Alto K10 car (GA-09-D-0427). The accident took place at 5.30 pm when they were returning to Margao: the car went off the road and fell into the gorge after it passed by a sharp slope.

Two of the students died on the spot, while the third boy was rushed to the Hospicio Hospital, Margao, with serious injuries. However, he was declared dead.

All the three dead students were taken to the hospital.

The police opined that the driver might have lost the control, leading to the car plunging into the gorge.

It was not known which of the three boys was driving the car.

Police sub-inspector Ashok Bawkar of the Maina-Curtorim police, who visited the accident site, said that Rowan and Joshua were studying in Ninth Standard while Ethan was studying in the Tenth Class. 

Eathan was a student of a Curchorem school, and was supposed to take an examination on Monday.

The accident rocked South Goa district and the shocked people rushed to the accident site. The Hospicio Hospital was crowded by the people who were eager to have a glimpse of the dead youngsters. 

The car was totally damaged. Locals and the people who rushed to the spot had to make tremendous efforts to take the boys out of the car.

Police have registered the incident as an accident case.

The dead bodies have been kept in the hospital morgue for conducting a postmortem.