Sikh Society looks to educate drivers in wake of double fatal crash

Thursday, 1 November 2018

Bikram Singh Sandsu was killed in a crash south of Tokoroa on Monday.

They came to New Zealand to pursue a career in engineering and help support their families back home in India.

And Bikram Singh Sandhu and Mukul Jatlan were well on their way to doing just that until a trip to visit Jatlan's sister in Taupō on Monday took a deadly turn.

Both men in their early 20s were killed on their return journey when the car Sandhu was driving collided with an oncoming car on State Highway 1 at Ohakuri, about 35km south of Tokoroa just after 5pm.

Two people died following a serious crash on State Highway 1 near Ohakuri, south of Tokoroa. [file photo]

Friend Amit Sharma, who was in the back seat, survived.

*** Two dead, two injured in serious crash on SH1 in South Waikato

* International students killed in crash mourned at tertiary institutes**

He was flown to Waikato Hospital for surgery and is currently in a critical, but stable, condition.

'He had spinal injuries but has had some movement in his body,' Supreme Sikh Society spokesperson Daljit Singh told Stuff on Thursday.

Friends of Sharma visited him in hospital on Wednesday. During the visit he tried to communicate with family home in Punjab province.

'He is trying to do video conference with his family and trying to open his mouth. As far as I know his memory is okay.'

The men were all friends. Aged in their early 20s they came out from India to study civil engineering in Auckland.

Sandhu and Sharma both came from different areas of the Punjab state, emigrating about two and a half years ago.

Singh said the pair recently completed a diploma and were now on open working visas, trying to establish themselves.

Jatlan, originally from New Delhi, had become a New Zealand citizen, having emigrated earlier than the other two. He was also studying at Unitec.

'It's a big shock and everyone is stunned to hear this news.

'They were actually sharp and good students.'

The crash is the latest in a string of collisions that have claimed the lives of Indian nationals.

On October 16, Harpreet Singh, 25, of India, died when the car he was driving collided with a Southern Discoveries tourist bus carrying 14 passengers, on SH6 just south of Queenstown.

That same night two international students from India and Nepal were killed in a head-on crash in Taranaki.

Indian man Yatharth Vats, 23, and Shamuel BK, a Nepalese student, died in the crash between Waitara and New Plymouth.

Given the recent toll, the Sikh community was now looking to promote safer driving among the young Indian community, Singh said.

'The community is now working together to run awareness courses for youth coming from India to help them drive in New Zealand as there have been so many accidents recently where Indians have lost their lives on the road.

'We will help people learn to drive cars, not to speed, not to overtake. We'll be going to schools where youth are coming from India to tell them.'

Fundraising was now underway to help get Sandhu's body home to India. Almost $30,000 had been raised which would also help support Sharma as he recovers in hospital.

'The target is to raise around $50,000 to help two of the families.'

Jatlan's funeral would be held here in New Zealand.

The Serious Crash Unit is investigating.