Dubai: Two friends reunite, die in car crash
Dubai: A vacation reunion of two former Indian students in Dubai ended in a tragedy after both of them were killed in a car crash in the wee hours of the Christmas Day.
Family sources told Gulf News that Sharat Kumar, 21, and Rohit Krishnakumar, 19, met with the tragic end while Sharat was dropping Rohit home after they met last night.
Originally from the Indian state of Kerala, both of them are former students of DPS Dubai, said a family friend.
Sharat went to the Boston University in the US for higher education and Rohit went to the University of Manchester in the UK. They were visiting their families here and met in Dubai with a few other friends last night.
Family sources said the youth had gone out for dinner and were returning home when the accident took place.
An official with Dubai Police confirmed the accident, saying it happened at 3am on Wednesday within the jurisdiction of Jebel Ali Police.
“The driver lost control over the wheel and hit a pavement before the car crashed into a tree and both died on the spot,” the official said.
Police believe that speeding was the reason behind the crash.
“They were almost home”
A family friend said the accident took place in The Gardens community where both the victims’ families live within a kilometer.
“They were almost home when this tragedy happened,” he said.
According to the family friend, two other Dubai-based friends had come to meet the victims after learning that they are here on vacation.
“They had met at Sharat’s house first. Later, they went out to a fast food restaurant to have dinner. One of the friends went home in his car. Sharat dropped another one home and was on his way back to drop Rohit at his house. I don’t know how exactly the accident took place. Apparently, Sharat lost control over the car and it crashed against a tree.”
Both of them were killed instantly and the luxury car was completely damaged.
Though the accident took place around 3am, the family friend said, both the victims’ families were not aware of the tragedy till about 8am.
He said both Sharat’s mother and Rohit’s parents thought the boys might have slept over at the other’s house.
“I don’t know how to console them. Both their [victims’] fathers are my close friends,” the family friend said.
Rohit, whose 20th birthday is on January 19, is survived by his parents and an elder brother.
Sharat, who was two months short of 22, was the only child.
His father, who was away in Kerala when the accident took place, was scheduled to come back to Dubai on Wednesday night.
Both of them were known as bright students.
While schooling in Dubai, Rohit had won the prestigious Shaikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for excellence in academics and extra-curricular activities.
Social worker Naseer Vatanappally, who is assisting the families with the legal formalities for repatriation, said both the victims’ mortal remains would be flown to Kerala on Thursday night.
