MUMBAI: A birthday celebration ended in tragedy in the early hours of Sunday when a speeding BMW crashed into a divider on the under-construction Delhi-Mumbai Expressway near Badlapur, killing two people and injuring another. The impact was so severe that the luxury car was reduced to a mangled heap of metal, with its engine found nearly 30 metres away from the crash site. Adding to the gravity of the case, police are probing a social media post allegedly recorded by one of the deceased moments before the accident. The post appears to show the BMW being driven at speeds of up to 251 kmph. Investigators suspect reckless driving and possible stunt driving may have contributed to the crash.
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The driver, identified as Angad Gill, a resident of Badlapur, survived the accident and is undergoing treatment at Fortis Hospital in Kalyan.The car is registered under Gill’s father’s company.Gill has also suffered injuries on head and is in serious condition. Police have not yet recorded his statement, and it remains unclear whether the vehicle’s airbags deployed or what factors helped him survive the devastating crash. The deceased have been identified as Yogesh Negi (26), a resident of Badlapur whose birthday was being celebrated, and Rebecca Jacob (24), a resident of Bandra.According to police, the trio had attended Negi’s birthday party in Badlapur West before heading towards the expressway during the night. Authorities said the force of the collision was extraordinary. One of the victims was found dismembered, while the woman was thrown nearly 30 metres away from the vehicle and succumbed to her injuries shortly afterwards. Vehicle parts were scattered over a large stretch of the road, highlighting the intensity of the impact. Eyewitnesses described horrifying scenes at the accident site. One witness said he was on a night walk on the highway between 2 am and 3 am when he noticed the BMW speeding on the stretch. “The car passed us twice at an extremely high speed. During the third round, we heard a deafening crash. When we reached the spot, the vehicle was completely destroyed. A woman had been flung a considerable distance away and was struggling for life before she died,” he said. Another eyewitness said he rushed to the scene after hearing the impact. “We found an injured woman lying on the road and another injured man nearby. We immediately called an ambulance. Later, we noticed that one victim’s head was torn apart due to the force of the collision,” he said. Police also recovered a bill worth around Rs 9,000 from the group’s belongings, believed to be linked to the birthday celebration held earlier in the evening. The accident has once again raised concerns over unauthorised entry onto the under-construction expressway. Although construction work on a substantial portion of the highway near Badlapur has been completed, the stretch has not yet been opened to the public because work remains pending on other sections of the corridor. Despite repeated warnings, locals and motorists frequently enter the restricted stretch for leisure drives and high-speed rides. The National Highways Authority has installed multiple warning boards along the route stating that the expressway is under construction, closed to public traffic, and that any unauthorised entry is at the individual’s own risk. To prevent access by vehicles, large cement barricades and concrete blocks have also been placed at several locations. Investigators suspect that while travelling at high speed, the BMW driver may have attempted to avoid one such concrete obstruction, lost control of the vehicle, and slammed into the central divider. The impact reportedly caused the car to vault and come to rest between two divider sections. Senior Police Inspector Kishor Shinde said the exact sequence of events remains unclear as the driver’s statement has not yet been recorded. “We have come across a social media post suggesting that the vehicle was being driven at speeds of up to 251 kmph before the accident. However, the authenticity of the video is still being verified. The driver’s statement will help establish the exact circumstances of the crash,” he said. Shinde added that the extensive damage to the BMW, the distance over which vehicle parts were scattered, and the condition in which the victims were found all indicate that the vehicle was travelling at an extremely high speed at the time of the accident. Police have registered a case of accidental death and launched a detailed investigation into the incident.