5 powerlifters die in highway mishap

NEW DELHI: In a tragic incident, five men, including an international-level powerlifter, were killed and one person was injured when their car met with an accident in the early hours of Sunday near the Delhi-Haryana border, the police said.

The champion powerlifter was identified as Saksham Yadav, 28. He was admitted in an ‘extremely critical’ condition at the AIIMS Trauma Centre  where he succumbed to injuries this evening.

“He died at 6:38 pm following a cardiac arrest,” a senior doctor at the trauma centre said, adding that “the family told us that he was revived twice at the Max Hospital”.

Mr Yadav had recently won a gold medal in the 2017 powerlifting championship for the country in Moscow.

Mr Yadav sustained grievous head injuries and severe internal bleeding.

He was being attended by a team of doctors, the doctor said.

Deputy commissioner of police (Rohini) Rajneesh Gupta said Tikamchand, Saurabh, Akash and Harish Roy, a 20-year-old student, were killed on the spot.

Mr Yadav and Mr Rohit were taken to the Max Hospital, Shalimar Bagh, in northwest Delhi. “They came to the emergency department where they were administered first-aid. The duo later was taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre,” a doctor said.

The six players were proceeding from Delhi to Panipat in a Swift Dzire sedan along with their kits when they met with the road accident near Alipur village.

It was Mr Rohit’s birthday and the friends were celebrating it, the police said.

They are investigating whether it was a case of drunk driving since there were some liquor bottles found in the car, Mr Gupta said.

Sunil Lochab, Mr Yadav’s coach, said “He had called on Saturday night to say that he was coming home. Early morning, we came to know about the accident.”