Doctor, friend killed in Signature Bridge crash
Two men in their early twenties died on Friday after their motorcycle crashed into a concrete railing and they fell off the elevated approach road to the Signature Bridge, the first fatal accident on this stretch since it opened three weeks ago.
Satyavijay Shankaram, a junior doctor at the North Delhi Municipal Corporation Medical College and the Hindu Rao Hospital, and his friend Chander Shekhar Sharma, a second-year medical student, were on a KTM Duke on an early morning joyride when the accident occurred.
No eyewitnesses have come forward yet, according to police, but signs at the site suggested the motorcycle lost control on a left hand curve and scraped the embankment on the right side. Skid marks indicate the motorcycle went some distance before finally hitting the concrete embankment again, at which point the two would have fallen off the road – their bodies were spotted 30 feet below the road by a passerby around 8:40am.
“They were apparently speeding and taking a left turn towards Majnu Ka Tila when they lost control,” said additional deputy commissioner of police Jasmeet Singh. Since it opened on November 4, the Signature Bridge, which connects north Delhi to northeast Delhi across the Yamuna, has seen a huge rush of visitors taking selfies, some of them even risking their lives by climbing on car tops and suspension cables to take pictures. A case of rash driving and causing death by negligence was registered at the Timarpur police station. “The scene at the accident spot suggested one of the footrests of the bike got trapped in a cable jutting out of an electric pole installed in the railing,” said a police officer investigating the case. “The footrest broke and fell on the road,” he said.
The duo was rushed to Sushruta Trauma Centre in Kashmere Gate area where they were declared brought dead. Doctors told police that the two suffered multiple fractures and fatal head injuries. “Just 10 minutes before the accident, Sharma had updated his WhatsApp status with a photo in which he is seen standing near the motorcycle with the Signature Bridge in the backdrop. He also wrote “Good Morning Friends” on the status,” said Daya Shankar, a hostel friend of the duo.