BMW Falls Off Mumbai Coastal Road, Killing Three; One Critical

Three people were killed and a fourth left critically injured when a BMW plunged off the elevated stretch of the Mumbai Coastal Road near Lotus Jetty in the early hours of Sunday, police said.

The crash took place around 5.20 am as the car travelled north from Marine Drive towards Haji Ali. According to the Tardeo police station, the vehicle fell from the elevated section of the freeway. The Coastal Road Control Room said the driver lost control of the wheels near Lotus Jetty, opposite Lala Lajpatrai College, and that information received so far points to overspeeding as the cause.

Four people were travelling in the car. Two of the dead have been identified as Shanay Gajjal, 21, and Dhirya Seth, 17, while a 25-year-old man who has not yet been identified was declared brought dead, the Chief Medical Officer at Nair Hospital said. A 20-year-old man, also unidentified, is in a critical condition in the trauma ward, according to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

Videos circulating on social media, which have not been independently verified, showed the car going off the Coastal Road and the wrecked black BMW at the accident site, where police and a forensic team were present.

Investigators have not yet established why the crash occurred. Asked whether the occupants were under the influence of intoxicants or speeding out of control, police said the matter is being looked into. A post-mortem examination is under way, and no conclusive findings on intoxication have been confirmed, an official said, adding that the injured person is still undergoing treatment.

The Mumbai Coastal Road is a 10.58-km high-speed freeway linking Marine Drive in south Mumbai to the Worli end of the Bandra–Worli Sea Link. A probe into the accident is continuing.