3 IIT Bombay Students Returning After Ladakh Trip Die In Fortuner Crash

Returning to Pune after a Ladakh trip, three friends died after the Toyota Fortuner they were travelling in hit a divider and fell off a flyover on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway near Rajasthan's Kota.

According to police, 10 friends were returning to Pune from Ladakh in three separate vehicles. The other two cars had stopped for a break while the Fortuner, which had Siddhant, Mathuresh Padale, and Kunal, students of IIT Bombay, as its occupants, was carrying on.

Police suspect the driver may have dozed off, causing the vehicle to hit a divider between the Karadia and Balapura before falling off a flyover and into a large, dry sewer.

Horrific accident on #Delhi-#Mumbai Expressway: Fortuner car plunges 30 feet, killing 3 #Pune friends#Kota: A heartbreaking accident occurred on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway on Wednesday morning, claiming the lives of three young men. Returning home to Pune after a trip to
1/4 pic.twitter.com/vvmgRc5I0c

— Siraj Noorani (@sirajnoorani) March 18, 2026

Kaithun Station House Officer (SHO) Manoj Singh Sikarwar said, "The driver lost control of the SUV and it fell off the flyover. The impact was so severe that the vehicle was completely mangled," he said.

Locals and passersby rushed to the spot and managed, with some difficulty, to pull out the bodies.

The bodies have been shifted to the mortuary of Kaithun hospital, and the victims' families have been informed, said an official.

With Inputs From Shakir Ali