Bridegroom Rajesh Panthi, 30, was driving the car when they met with the deadly accident within 10 minutes of leaving the party for home. Both Rajesh and his bride Nirmala, who was in the front seat, died on the spot at Bansundhara. [break]
Sadder still, Rajesh´s father Krishna, 60, and mother Parbati, 56, who were in the back seat, were seriously injured and are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital.
Rajesh, a computer engineer originally from Thanapati-2 in Gulmi had settled at Manamaiju in the capital. Nirmala Paudel, a nursing student from Dulegauda VDC in Tanahu, returned from the UK last week for the wedding on Saturday.
The Panthi family had thrown a big party for over 1,000 guests, at Aanti Party Palace at Bansbari. The party ended around 11 PM and it took the family some 20 minutes to get ready to depart homewards. Ten more minutes later, the celebrations turned into tragedy.
Overspeeding wrecks havoc
The Maruti Santro (Ba. 7. Cha 7146) reached Maharajgunj within minutes and turned left towards Basundhara. The car speeded up on the ring road slope and a few hundred meters on it suddenly skidded to the right, hit a pole and overturned.
The bodies of Rajesh and Nirmala were extracted from the wreck after about 35 minutes. Rajesh´s injured parents were extracted within five minutes.
“Our CRV van was just nearby and reached the spot in no time. But the accident was so deadly that the couple were killed on the spot,” said DSP Deepak Thapa, chief of Metropolitan Police Circle Maharajgunj.
Investigative officials surmise that the accident could have taken place due to some technical error while speeding. “Maybe the driver mistook the accelerator for the brake,” they said. Rajesh was said to have had a driving license but not much experience in driving.
According to officials who talked with family members, Rajesh never drank.
“Some of the relatives, who were following behind, said they also wondered why the car speed up so suddenly,” police said.
It was not possible to approach the aggrieved Panthi family for comment.
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