Two-time world champion Saksham Yadav was among five powerlifters killed in a car crash on national highway 1 near the Haryana border in northwest Delhi early on Sunday.
Their friend, Rohit, survived the crash but is gravely injured, Rohini deputy commissioner of police Rajneesh Gupta said. He is admitted to a private hospital.
The six friends were on their way to Murthal to celebrate the birthday of Tikamchand, who too died after the driver lost control of the car and hit a road divider around 3.40am.”The car climbed the divider and smashed into a signage pole. The vehicle turned 90 degrees, standing upside down with the bumper touching the ground for a brief moment, before rolling over a few times and hitting the divider again to come to a halt,” said an investigator.
The other three dead athletes were Yogesh, Saurabh Kashyap and Harish Roy.
Police are trying to find out if this is case of drink driving since liquor bottles were found in the vehicle. Eyewitnesses told investigators that the car was moving at more than 100kmph before it crashed. Residents of the area and a police patrol extricated the men - aged between 18 and 27 - from the mangled car. They were taken to hospitals, where Yogesh, Saurabh, Tikamchand and Harish were declared dead on arrival.
The 23-year-old Saksham died at the AIIMS Trauma Centre, where he was admitted with serious head injuries and internal bleeding. “He died of a cardiac arrest at 6.38pm,” a doctor said.
{{/usCountry}}The 23-year-old Saksham died at the AIIMS Trauma Centre, where he was admitted with serious head injuries and internal bleeding. “He died of a cardiac arrest at 6.38pm,” a doctor said.
{{/usCountry}}Saksham won the world championships in Slovakia in 2016 and in Russia the following year. He was a former Delhi, north India and national champion.
Gurpreet Singh, general secretary of Powerlifting Federation of India, said: “He has been associated with us for the past two years and was a hard-working athlete. We had dinner together last night and he dropped me and guruji (federation president Sunil Lochab) in our homes. He then went out with his friends.”
Families of the six athletes from Delhi’s Timarpur said they used to train at the same gym in the area.
It couldn’t be known who was driving the car as the two injured survivors are not in a condition to speak. The car belonged to Saksham’s family and had a defence ministry sticker. Police said a member of his family is with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
(With inputs from HT sport and agencies)