Nagpur: A 20-year-old student from Nagpur was among three IIT Bombay students who lost their lives after their SUV overturned on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway near Panvel on Thursday morning. The tragic accident occurred while the group was returning from Khandala after an early morning trip.

The deceased have been identified as Shreyansh Sharma (22) from Jaipur, Omkumar Borse (23) from Nashik, and Lay Deshbhratar (20) from Nagpur. All three were undergraduate engineering students at IIT Bombay.

According to police, the accident took place around 9 am near the Panvel exit when the SUV attempted to overtake a truck. After failing to switch lanes, the driver reportedly tried to overtake from the service road. During the manoeuvre, the vehicle got trapped between the truck and the road edge, leading to multiple overturns and fatal injuries to the occupants.

The students were part of a group travelling in multiple vehicles. They had reportedly gone to Khandala early in the morning to watch the sunrise after stepping out late the previous night.

All three victims were rushed to a hospital in Panvel, where they were declared dead. Police have registered a case and initiated further investigation into the incident.

The deceased were pursuing different engineering streams, with Sharma in mechanical engineering, while Borse and Deshbhratar were studying aerospace and physics, respectively. Their bodies have been handed over to family members.

The incident has sent shockwaves across the IIT Bombay campus and their hometowns, including Nagpur, highlighting ongoing concerns over road safety on the busy Mumbai-Pune Expressway.