MANAMA: A teenager was killed and six others injured, one seriously, when the SUV they were travelling in crashed into a compound wall of a school in Adliya last night.
The accident took place opposite the Baan Saeng Thai restaurant when the seven boys, all aged 19 and former Indian School students, were travelling towards Manama.
Witnesses said the driver lost control of the GMC at high speed and, after going over the central reservation, crashed into the boundary wall of the Dilmun School on the other side of the road.
Police sources said the driver may have been speeding but said investigations were ongoing.
The dead boy has been identified as Pratik Baldev Raj, a student at Ernst & Young in Bahrain.
The driver, Bahraini Mohammed Abdulmalik, is in critical condition at the Salmaniya Medical Complex while the other five are reportedly out of danger.
The son of Al Jazira Cold Store Company employee Baldev Raj, Pratik, who was in the front seat, reportedly died as he was thrown out of the vehicle when it crashed into the wall while Mohammed was critically injured with glass pieces in his skull.
The other five boys - Vijay Loyston, Raunak Digambar, Govind Srinivas, Rahul Mahajan and Shaurya Banerjee - received cuts and bruises but no serious injuries.
Scores of friends and relatives of the boys, along with their families, reached the hospital on hearing the news.
Indian embassy first secretary Nirmal Chaudhary and Indian Ladies Association president Suhasini Srinivas, whose son was among those injured, were also at the hospital.
One of the students said the boys had shawarma in Adliya and were on their way to Manama when the accident took place. He said the five injured students study in various parts of India and were on vacation in Bahrain.
Pratik leaves behind, besides his parents, younger sister Prerna, who is a class nine student at the Asian School and elder brother Pratham.
Meanwhile, a family fun event that was to be held by the Indian Ladies Association at Marina Club tomorrow has been postponed indefinitely, in sympathy with the families of victims of last night's accident.
Report : GDN-bahrain
