Celebratory drive in new SUV turns fatal, 4 dead after car falls off Yamuna Expressway

In a tragic accident, four IT employees including a woman were killed on Sunday on Yamuna Expressway. The accident happen when a group of nine people had gone out to celebrate in the "new car" purchased by one of the seniors. The SUV skidded off while taking a U-turn near Pari Chowk and fell into a 30-ft ditch. 

"Three people died immediately and six others were rushed to a private hospital. One of them later died due to injuries," said the Circle Officer, Greater Noida-1, Tanu Upadhyay to a news agency. 

Five of the colleagues who suffered serious injuries in the crash have been hospitalised where the condition of three was stated to be critical, the official said.

"The speeding Ford Endeavour was apparently taking a U-turn near Pari Chowk when it skidded off the expressway and fell into a ditch, about 30 ft deep. It couldn't negotiate the turn in the high speed," she added. 

Altogether nine people, six men, and three women, all aged between 25 and 35, were inside the SUV at the time of the incident, the police said. 

More than 700 people have died and over 7,600 injured in nearly 5,000 accidents along the 165-km-long Yamuna Expressway since it was opened in 2012, according to an official figure. 

Officials say over speeding is one of the main causes of incidents on the six-lane highway managed by the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA).

(Inputs from PTI)