Chennai,  Five youths lost their lives after the car in which they were travelling rammed into a parked lorry during the early hours of Sunday. The incident occurred at Peringalathur near Chennai.

The youths were travelling from Chennai to Vandallur and the accident occurred between 1.30 a.m. and 2.30 a.m on Sunday.

The youths had just completed their Engineering degree from Hindustan University, Chennai and one of them had reached Chennai to attend an interview.

The driver of the car also died on the spot after the car collided with the lorry parked on the roadside with long iron rods. The car was damaged beyond recognition and the bodies of the youths were caught inside the mangled vehicle.

Police and Fire Force personnel were pressed into service and recovered the bodies of the youths after cutting the car open.

Harisundar, a fire force personnel who was in the operation told IANS, "The car was in a totally mangled state and we had to cut open the vehicle to recover the bodies."

Police said that the investigation is on and that the CCTV visuals from the nearside cameras are being studied to find out the exact cause of the accident.

Sources in the police also told IANS that it has to be ascertained whether the car directly rammed into the parked lorry or whether some other vehicle had hit the car leading to it losing control and ramming into the parked lorry.

The deceased are identified as Raja Harris, Naveen, Ajay, Rahul and Arvind Shankar and police said that all are in their early twenties.