A race-car driver and his wife were killed early yesterday after their BMW crashed into a tree and burst into flames in Chennai, police said.
Ashwin Sundar and his wife Nivedhitha were on their way home when their car swerved out of control and rammed into the tree.
“The vehicle got stuck between the tree and the compound wall on the road side...(and then) the car caught fire,” S Yuvraj, a local investigative police officer, said.
Yuvraj said the couple were trapped in the blazing vehicle after it auto-locked from the impact.
Passersby gathered around the car but couldn’t do anything to douse the fire or save the couple due to the continuing explosions.
One of them alerted the Chennai city police control room.
Fire and rescues personnel from nearby Mylapore rushed to the spot and battled the inferno for over half-an-hour.
Traffic police recovered their charred bodies after managing to get the car open.
The accident occurred at 3.30am on the Santhome High Road.
Sundar, 31, was a rising star in the car racing industry, winning the National F4 championships in 2012 and 2013.
He signed a deal with German racing team Ma-Con Motorsport and drove for the German Formula Volkswagen ADAC Championship in 2008.
“It’s a sad day for motor sports,” Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) president Akbar Ebrahim tweeted.