MUMBAI, Sept. 21 -- Three students died and a fourth was critically injured when the driver of a speeding black BMW car lost control on the Mumbai coastal road, crashed through the wall of the elevated bridge, and plunged 75 feet onto an under-construction parking lot at ground level early on Sunday. The four students - enrolled at NMIMS in Juhu and an architecture college in Kurla - were speeding along the north-bound carriageway after a night out at Marine Drive when their car leapt off the coastal road while negotiating a curve near Lotus Jetty near Haji Ali. The accident, in which three of the BMW's four occupants died on the spot, took place at 5:20am on Sunday. Tardeo Police said the car appeared to have been travelling at 120kmph, way over the coastal road's 80kmph speed limit for the main carriageway. The limit drops to 60kmph inside the undersea twin tunnels, and 40kmph on ramps and curves. Police said further investigation will reveal more but, for now, the trajectory of the car after it crashed through the coastal road and the momentum with which it leapt off the bridge suggest it was travelling at around 120kmph. They said they were informed about the accident by a motorist who called the police control room after witnessing the accident. Seven lives have been lost in accidents on the Mumbai coastal road since it opened in 2024, including the three fatalities on Sunday. Police say cars and SUVs, including expensive sports cars, frequently break the speed limit on the carriageway, using it as a racetrack. Originally from Ahmedabad and living in rented accommodation in Juhu, the deceased in Sunday's crash have been identified as Shanay Gajjar, 21, who was driving the car; Aditya Jakasnia, 19, and Dhairya Sheth, 17, who were seated in the back; and Aditya Oswal, 20, who was in the passenger seat next to Gajjar. Oswal survived the accident with serious injuries. Friends of the deceased said all four were friends. While Gajjar and Oswal were students at NMIMS in Juhu, Jakasnia and Sheth were studying at an architecture college in Kurla. According to Meena Jagtap, senior police inspector, Tardeo police station, the BMW's four occupants were taken to the civic-run Nair Hospital, where Gajjar, Jakasnia and Sheth were declared dead on arrival. Oswal was admitted with multiple injuries and is critical. His family later discharged him against medical advice and admitted him to Breach Candy Hospital. Police said the post-mortems will determine whether the deceased, especially Gajjar, had consumed alcohol before the accident. A case of accidental death has been registered and more details are awaited before a First Information Report can be filed. The Regional Transport Office (RTO) will examine the wrecked BMW to determine whether mechanical error or human error caused the crash. Meanwhile, around 30 friends and relatives of the deceased waited outside the post-mortem centre at Nair Hospital all day for the autopsies to be completed. "Relatives who live in Mumbai reached the hospital quickly while the boys' parents are on their way from Gujarat," said Jagtap on Sunday afternoon. Doctors at the hospital said the injuries suffered by all four occupants of the BMW were extensive. Oswal, who survived the crash, was shifted from the trauma ward to the surgical ward at Nair Hospital but his family discharged him against medical advice at around 11.30am, and admitted him to a private hospital, said assistant medical officer on duty at Nair Hospital, Dr Poonam Jaiswal. The deceased suffered severe head trauma, multiple fractures, facial injuries and internal injuries, according to medical sources....