MUZAFFARNAGAR — Six young men from Haryana burnt to death before dawn on Monday after their speeding car snapped an electricity pole, overturned across a highway divider, and exploded into flames in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district.
The crash occurred around 4:50 am along the Panipat-Khatima National Highway near the Jaggaheri toll plaza. Travelling at an estimated speed of 120 kmph, the vehicle tore through nearly 10 metres of the concrete median before flipping onto the opposing carriageway. The fuel ignited almost immediately. Trapped inside the crumpled cabin, none of the six occupants survived.
Firefighters battled the blaze for nearly an hour before extinguishing the shell. The car was reduced to charred steel.
Police units attached to the Titawi police station rushed to the scene alongside emergency rescue personnel after receiving automated alerts from passing motorists. Officers deployed heavy industrial cranes to haul the smouldering wreckage off the carriageway, clearing a major highway bottleneck that stalled morning traffic for kilometers.
"Titawi police station received information at approximately 4:50 am on November 9 that a vehicle had struck an electric pole and the median barrier on the flyover past Jaggaheri toll plaza before catching fire," said Muzaffarnagar Superintendent of Police (Rural) Akshay Sanjay Mahadik. He confirmed that all six occupants died at the scene before responders could pull them out.
The impact snapped a high-voltage concrete utility post in two. Investigators noted that the vehicle's speed left zero braking distance before the initial collision.
All six victims were close friends from the Hansi administrative division of Haryana's Hisar district. Police identified them as Sahil, 20; Rahul, 23; Aman, 21; Ajay, 21; and two youths named Ankit, both aged 21.
Aman and Ajay, both residents of Moth Luhari village, were college students. Ankit, son of Rajesh, was also enrolled in undergraduate studies. The second Ankit, son of Samunder, lived in Rakhi Garhi and worked as an air-conditioning technician. His elder brother, Rahul, earned daily wages as a gas welder and mason.
The brothers were the sole breadwinners for their household. Their father, a former daily-wage labourer, has remained bedridden for two years due to chronic illness. According to their uncle, the two brothers slipped out of their home around midnight without disclosing their destination.
Sahil had borrowed the vehicle from a relative two days prior. His father, Som Kumar, stated the group left Hansi around 12:30 am after telling relatives they were driving toward Gurugram. Instead, the group steered east toward Haridwar to participate in the sacred Ganga snan on the occasion of Somvati Amavasya. They never crossed the Uttar Pradesh border corridor.
Titawi police transferred the bodies to the district mortuary for post-mortem analysis and formal DNA verification. Investigating teams have launched a technical review of the vehicle's wreckage to establish whether mechanical failure or tyre burst compounded the excessive speed.