Hyderabad: A night out turned tragic for eight friends after two of them died and six were grievously injured when their car rammed into a roadside wall near Victoria Playground at Chaderghat early on Thursday morning.

The victims were returning home after partying and eating at a roadside dhaba in a Mahindra Verito car.

Police said that eight people had crammed into the car, and the driver lost control due to high speed and blinding headlight of a vehicle coming from the opposite direction.

K. Varun Raj, 18, and T. Narender, 18, both students of a private junior college, died on the spot owing to multiple injuries. Varun was a resident of Afzalgunj and Narender, a resident of Habsiguda. According to police, the car was taken from a private firm for a test drive by one of the injured persons.

The incident occurred after 2 am when the youngsters were going towards Kacheguda.

“In the front seat, there were three people, and in the back seat, there were five people. The car climbed on the footpath and rammed on to the wall before turning turtle,” said a police officer from Afzalgunj police station.

Two persons, sitting on the left side, sustained serious injuries on head and other parts of the body. They died on the spot. Locals and other motorists shifted the injured to Osmania General Hospital.

The driver, police found out, was 19-year-old Vaishnav, who claimed to have a driver’s licence. He tested negative for alcohol. “We checked with the doctors if the driver was drunk. We were told that he was sober,” said Afzalgunj SI K. Laxhminaryana.

Police said that the boys were going to drop off one person at Kacheguda after eating at a roadside dhaba in old city. One side of the car was completely damaged trapping few victims for a brief period of time after the mishap.

Police have booked a case against the driver for causing death and injuries due to negligence. The condition of the six injured in hospital, also students of private colleges, is stable.