Chennai: Three college students died and four others were injured after their car overturned near Maduranthakam on the Chennai-Tiruchy National Highway in the early hours of Saturday.The seven students from a private university in Pallavaram were returning to Chennai from Puducherry when their vehicle’s rear tyre got punctured. Harikrishnan, 19, who was driving, lost control of the car, and it swerved across the road before overturning and hitting the central median.Deepakraj, 19, of Vadalur in Cuddalore district, and Beautrin Stalinijo, 22, of Kanniyakumari, suffered severe head injuries and died on the spot. Deepakraj was a third-year arts student, while Beautrin was a final-year law student.The injured were taken to Chengalpet govt hospital, where Raj Prasad, 19, of Pasupathipalaiyam in Karur, was declared dead. He was a third-year BCom student.The other injured students were identified as Logeswaran, 18, of Karur; Ram Prasad, 19, of Pasupathipalaiyam; Anishwaran, 18, of Cuddalore; and Harikrishnan, 19, of Chennai.Maduranthakam police registered a case under Sections 281, 125(a) and 106 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The sections deal with negligent driving, acts endangering personal safety and death caused by negligence.Police have sent the bodies for postmortem. The accident disrupted traffic on the highway for some time.
