Car at 200 kmph smashes into Dwarka tunnel wall, engine ripped out, driver killed

Detailed summary

A 22-year-old driver died after his speeding car struck a wall in the Dwarka Expressway airport tunnel. Alleged Snapchat posts and CCTV footage are central to the police investigation.

A 22-year-old man was killed after his car, moving at around 200 kmph, crashed into a wall inside the Dwarka Expressway airport tunnel, ripping the engine out of the vehicle and triggering a fire, police said on Thursday, PTI reported.

The victim, Abhinav Singh, was on his way from Ludhiana to Gurugram when the accident occurred near the Shiv Murti interchange. Police suspect the car was speeding at around 200 kmph, well above the speed limit of 80 kmph.

Singh, a native of Muzaffarpur in Bihar, lived in Sector 42, Gurugram. Police said he was driving a modified Volkswagen Virtus belonging to a friend. He had gone to Ludhiana to meet his girlfriend and was returning to Gurugram on Diwali morning.

According to PTI, the initial investigation found that Singh had allegedly recorded videos and photographs of the car's speedometer and sent them to his friends through Snapchat shortly before the crash. Police are trying to retrieve the material as part of the investigation.

Police officials told PTI that CCTV footage from the tunnel showed the car travelling at very high speed before crashing near a turn connecting the tunnel to National Highway 48.

The impact ripped the car's engine off and threw it some distance away, where it caught fire. Singh was trapped inside the mangled vehicle and died at the scene.

Police have recorded the statements of security personnel deployed at the tunnel, as well as other motorists and eyewitnesses who were present at the spot. The Delhi Police is investigating the accident.

Singh's body was sent for a post-mortem examination and later handed over to his family, officials told PTI. His mother is a teacher and lives in Bihar.

The Dwarka Expressway airport tunnel has a maximum speed limit of 80 kmph. Two-wheelers, auto-rickshaws, tractors, non-motorised vehicles and tankers carrying inflammable substances are prohibited inside it.

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