New Delhi, 7 January 2018: Five men including Saksham Yadav, world champion weightlifter, lost their lives in a horrible crash accident near New Delhi in early hours of January 7. Their car rammed into a divider and crashed into a pole in the Alipur area on the Delhi- Haryana border causing deadly injuries. The deceased were identified as Saksham Yadav, 28, Tikam Chand, 27, Saurabh Kumar, 18, Yogesh alias Akash, 24, and Harish Roy, 20. All of the athletes were traveling from Delhi to Panipat in Swift Dzire along with their powerlifting kits.

The accident was so bad that the car rolled several times and its roof ripped away. The speeding car then hit a pole. Saksham Yadav represented India in the world championship who bagged a title for India in Moscow last year. He was in an extremely critical condition when admitted to the AIIMS Trauma Centre. He succumbed to a cardiac arrest after suffering from grievous head injuries and internal bleeding.

Tikam Chand was a national lifter. Another friend Rohit had contested at the state level. He is being treated at St. Stephens Hospital. All the friends had gone to Murthal to celebrate a birthday but since Saksham arrived late, they went to a dhaba instead. All these boys used to train together in a local gym. They had informed their families they would return home early morning. But met with the unfortunate event on their way back.

The police received a call at 3.20 am about the accident. Police vans and ambulances rushed to the spot to rescue the victims. Gas cutters and iron rods had to be used to get them out of the car. The exact cause of such major accident is still being probed. A case of drunken driving is being probed since the police found some bottles in the car.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 08, 2018 06:35 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).