Speeding Rolls Royce crashes into tanker Delhi-Mumbai expressway; 2 killed
Delhi: A luxurious Rolls Royce Phantom limousine caught fire as it collided with a petrol tanker on the New Delhi-Mumbai expressway on Thursday evening, burning both occupants of the tanker alive, media reports said.
The incident occurred in Haryana's Nuh. The Rolls Royce was reportedly traveling at a speed of 230 km per hour, NDTV reported.
Three occupants of the luxury car sustained injuries and are currently receiving medical treatment at a Gurgaon hospital.
The accident left the Phantom, the luxury car, extensively damaged, with visuals depicting the charred remains of the vehicle and the intense blaze that followed the collision.
Images captured at the scene depicted the devastating aftermath of the accident involving the Rolls Royce Phantom, a car worth more than Rs 10 crore.
In one video, the front of the car was reduced to a heap of mangled metal, with the engine engulfed in flames and debris scattered around the wreckage. The wrecked car's doors were open, revealing a vivid orange interior.
Speeding #RollsRoyce crashes into tanker on #DelhiExpressHighway near Haryana's #Nuh; tanker driver, his assistant burned alive, car occupants injured. Front of the car reduced to mangled metal as engine caught fire. #Accident #Delhi #Haryana pic.twitter.com/46JORDBKuP
— India Blooms (@indiablooms) August 24, 2023
Authorities had previously confirmed that all five passengers, who were in the Rolls Royce were immediately taken out of the vehicle, apparently by their family members, who were travelling behind them in another car.
The man attempted to reconstruct what he thought was the string of events that led to the accident. "The tanker was coming from this lane (pointing to the far side of road). It stopped there and waited to make a U-turn. The road was clear and truck started turning but the car was travelling so fast... the control room recorded its speed as 230 km per hour."
The NDTV report said another person blamed the stunt drivers, owners of posh cars, for racing their cars up and down the highway on Sundays.
Ashok Kumar, Assistant Sub-Inspector of Nuh Police, told NDTV the tanker driver and his assistant regularly plied on this route and both vehicles were coming from Delhi when the collision occurred.
"Eyewitness say the car was speeding and this led to the accident. We cannot confirm this at this time, or the speed at which it was being driven. The investigation is ongoing," he was quoted as saying to NDTV.
"There is space for a U-turn at the accident site but we are still establishing the sequence of events. We do know the tanker was hit on its side. We are presently taking the statements of those injured and will go to the Gurgaon hospital for this soon," he added.