What’s the story?
Former national motor racing champion, Ashwin Sundar, and his wife Niveditha passed away in a car accident after the BMW Ashwin was driving crashed into a tree. The couple were then trapped in the car as the doors failed to open and they were burnt to death as the vehicle caught fire.
In case you didn’t know...
Sundar had established himself on the racing circuit with his consecutive MRF National Go-Kart Championship wins in 2003 and 2004. More recently, the racer won the MRF Formula 1600 International Challenge in 2010 and 2011 and also became the national F4 Champion twice in the next couple of years.
Ashwin’s wife, Niveditha, was a doctor by profession and worked at a private hospital in Chennai.
The heart of the matter
Initial police reports suggest that Sundar himself was at the wheel and sources told News18 that prima facie, the accident seemed to have been caused by rash driving on his part. The accident occurred in the MRC Nagar area of the city and caused the car to get lodged between a wall and a tree, making the doors impossible to open.
The vehicle soon caught fire with the couple still trapped inside and while fire and rescue personnel rushed to the spot from Mylapore, it took them almost half an hour to douse the flames by when it was too late to save the couple.
A team of policemen arrived at the spot to recover the bodies of the couple who were taken to the hospital and declared dead on arrival.
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Our Tribute
Sundar was an elite racer who met with an untimely end, aged only 23. We will miss seeing him in action. In spite of the gruesome nature of his demise, it was perhaps a twist of fate which ensured that even at the end, the man was not separated from his machine.
Rest in peace Ashwin Sundar.
