Chandrapur: Four youths, including two girls, were killed, while one was critically injured as a speeding car rammed a stationary tractor near Ajaypur on Chandrapur-Mul stretch of the highway late on Tuesday night.
All the youths belonged to prominent families in Mul and were returning from a birthday bash in Chandrapur.
Sources said one Yoga Gogri had his 23rd birthday on Tuesday and he had taken four of his friends to Chandrapur for a party. They had a grand celebration in a hotel in Chandrapur and were returning late in the night when the accident took place.
Yoga, who was driving the car, apparently failed to notice a hay-laden tractor parked by the roadside near Ajaypur and rammed his vehicle into it. The dash was so severe that the car turned into a mangled heap of metal, killing four of the five occupants on the spot. The lone survivor in the car was critically injured.
The deceased have been identified as Darshana Udhwani (25), Pragati Nimgade (24), Muhammad Aman (23) and Smit Patel (25). The birthday boy Yoga sustained critical injuries and was rushed to a private hospital in Chandrapur. Ram Nagar police have booked offence against the tractor driver and further investigations are underway.