Bodies of two men killed in Co Carlow crash to be repatriated to India

Bhargav Chitturi (23) and Suresh Cherukuri (24) died when the car they were travelling in crashed last Friday

Suresh Cherukuri (24) and Bhargav Chitturi (23) were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash on the N80 in Leagh, Rathoe. Photographs: LinkedIn/Facebook
Suresh Cherukuri (24) and Bhargav Chitturi (23) were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash on the N80 in Leagh, Rathoe. Photographs: LinkedIn/Facebook

Two men who were killed in a car crash in Co Carlow early last Friday morning are to be repatriated to India.

Bhargav Chitturi (23) and Suresh Cherukuri (24) died when the car they were travelling in crashed on the N80 in Leagh, Rathoe, at about 1.15am.

The two men, who were students at South East Technological University in Carlow, were pronounced dead at the scene. Their bodies were taken to University Hospital Waterford for postmortem examinations.

Two other passengers, a man and a woman also aged in their 20s, were taken to St Luke’s General Hospital in Kilkenny with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

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Garda investigators carried out examinations of the scene for several hours in the aftermath of the crash. No other cars were involved.

All four had been sharing a house in Carlow town.

Carlow’s Indian community mourns death of two men in car crashOpens in new window ]

Repatriation of the two men’s bodies is being arranged through the Indian embassy with bureaucratic procedures expected to take several days, Garda sources confirmed. Their funerals will be held in India.

More than €64,000 has been raised for the families of the two men and for the two injured passengers in an online campaign.

The crash occurred on the first anniversary of the deaths of three friends in a crash on the same stretch of road. Katie Graham (19) from Arles in Co Laois, Daryl Culbert (21) from Kiltegan in Co Wicklow and Michael Kelly (25) from Nurney in Co Carlow died in a crash on Wednesday, January 31st, 2024.