Hyderabad: Not wearing a seat belt turned fatal for a 22-year-old London-based tech student, who was in the city for a vacation, in a major accident involving a Mercedes SUV at Raidurgam early on Saturday.
The accident occurred when Kandakatla Rahul Reddy was on his way to drop a friend, Sai Charan, at the latter's home in Manikonda. Cheran was wearing his seat belt, and escaped with minor injuries.
The Mercedes-Benz GLE (TS 07FX 3699) was registered on the name of Rahul’s father Anantha Reddy, and had four pending challans this year, all of them for speeding.
In a similar accident also involving a Mercedes SUV in March 2017, AP minister P. Narayana’s son P. Nishith Narayana and his friend Kamani Raja Ravichandra died after their car crashed into a Metro Rail pillar. Nishith was at the wheel and could not negotiate a curve at high speed.
In Saturday’s crash, police said, Rahul lost control on the vehicle as he was speeding and hit the divider on the right. The car toppled at least thrice and stopped hitting an electric pole off the road about 20 meters ahead.
Raidurgam inspector M. Ram Babu said, “Rahul Reddy was not wearing the seat belt. When the vehicle overturned, the door opened and he was flung to a distance. The air bags deployed but that could not save him.”
Rahul died while on the way to hospital, while Sai Charan escaped with minor injuries. A case of accidental death and causing injuries was registered.
According to the police, Rahul and Charan started from the former’s Filmnagar residence and were heading to Charan’s residence at Manikonda. The accident occurred after they crossed the Dargah junction. Inquiries revealed that they had met at Rahul’s residence and had a small party, during which they were suspected to have consumed alcohol.
Police said it was not a case of drunk driving but was awaiting the autopsy report. The investigation would proceed based on the report and other clues.
Rahul’s MS dreams cut midway
K. Rahul Reddy had left the city last year to do his MS in London and had come home a month ago for his vacation. He was to return by the end of July.
Family members said Rahul had an international driving licence and was a seasoned driver.
Rahul, the elder son of a Central government employee, is survived by his parents and a younger brother.
“His family is inconsolable after the sudden death of their son. They were very excited to see their son after a year, but one outing has turned tragic for the family,” said Rahul’s paternal uncle Shekhar Reddy. He said that Rahul always followed traffic rules.
