2 Indian students killed in car crash in US' Pennsylvania, consulate in touch with families

Two Indian students from Cleveland State University were killed in a car accident in Pennsylvania's Lancaster City last week.The deceased, identified as 20-year-old Manav Patel and 23-year-old Saurav Prabhakar, met with an accident on Saturday, May 10, as their car crashed into a tree and struck a bridge, officials said.According to news agency PTI, another passenger on the car's front seat was injured in the accident and was rushed to a local hospital, officials said.The Consulate General of India in New York said in a post on X, "Deeply saddened to learn about the unfortunate road accident in which two Indian students from Cleveland State University, Manav Patel and Saurav Prabhakar, lost their lives."ALSO READ | Indian stabbed to death in Canada's Ontario; racism believed to be motive"Our thoughts and prayers are with their families during this difficult time," the Consulate said, adding that it is in touch with the families of Patel and Prabhakar and has assured them of all possible assistance during this time.How did the accident happen?Patel and Prabhakar were killed in a single-vehicle crash on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Brecknock Township at 7 am on Saturday, a local media outlet, Lancasteronline.com, reported.As per the county's coroner officer and Pennsylvania state police, the accident took place on the eastbound side of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, when their car crashed into a tree near the Reading Interchange and struck a bridge.The report said that Saurav Prabhakar was driving the vehicle at the time of the incident.The Lancaster County coroner said that both Patel and Prabhakar died of multiple traumatic injuries, ruling their deaths as accidental.Last month, a 21-year-old Indian student, Harsimrat Kaur Randhawa, was killed after she was struck by a stray bullet in Canada while she was waiting at a bus stop on her way to work. Randhawa was a student at Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ontario.ALSO READ | 30 Indian students died in attacks abroad in 5 years: MEAThe union minister of state for external affairs, Kirti Vardhan Singh, informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply early in April that at least 91 cases of attacks on Indian students studying abroad were reported over the past five years, of which 30 resulted in deaths.While responding to a question from a Congress leader, Singh said, “Safety and security of Indian students abroad is one of the foremost priorities of the Government of India. Indian Missions and Posts abroad remain vigilant and closely monitor any untoward incident against Indian students in their respective countries of accreditation. Such unfortunate incidents, if any, are immediately taken up with the concerned authorities of the host country to ensure that the cases are properly investigated and the perpetrators are punished.”As per data from the Ministry of External Affairs, Canada accounted for the highest number of cases, reporting 27 violent attacks, followed by Russia with 15 incidents, the UK and Germany with 12 and 11 cases respectively and the US with nine violent attacks.Ireland saw four, the Philippines three, Italy three, and Iran one reported case, and none of these led to any fatalities. Australia recorded four incidents, and one of them resulted in death.