International-level powerlifter Saksham Yadav among 5 killed in accident

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 on Monday near the Delhi-Haryana border, police said.

The athlete, Saksham Yadav (28), who was admitted in an “extremely critical” condition at the AIIMS Trauma Centre here succumbed to his injuries this evening.

“He died at 6:38 pm of 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”.

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

He had sustained grievous head injuries and severe internal bleeding. He was being attended by a team of doctors, the doctor said.

The accident took place near the Singhu border in Alipur Police Station area in northwest Delhi. The driver lost control of the speeding vehicle that first hit a road divider and then a pole, police said.

After hitting the pole, the car toppled a few times leaving its occupants severely injured.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Rohini) Rajneesh Gupta said the deceased were identified as Tikamchand (27), Saurabh (18), Yogesh alias Akash (24) and Harish Roy (20).

The injured person was identified as Rohit (25), he said.

Yadav was first taken to the Max Hospital, Shalimar Bagh, in northwest Delhi. “He was taken to the emergency department where he was administered first-aid and stabilised. He was later taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre,” a hospital source said.

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

It is being probed whether it is a case of drunk driving since some liquor bottles were found in the vehicle, they said.

Police are also probing whether the driver could not see properly due to the fog.