Five people, including two pedestrians, sustained injuries after an overspeeding car lost control and veered into a footpath near the General Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.

The accident, which occurred around 12.30 p.m., left four people in critical condition.

According to the Cantonment police, the car, driven by Valiyavila native A.K. Vishnunath swerved off the road, crashed through a footpath railing before striking pedestrians and ploughing into the footpath. The impact was severe, damaging a nearby auto-rickshaw and several other vehicles.

Among the injured were three autorickshaw drivers, identified as Surendran, Shaji and Kumar, and two others, Sreepriya and Anjaneyan of Vallakkadavu, who were preparing to board an autoricksaw, the police said.

While all the injured were immediately rushed to the General Hospital, Sreepriya, Shafi and Surendran had to be soon referred to the Thiruvananthapuram Government Medical College Hospital with serious injuries. Shaji is also learnt to have suffered significant injuries.

The car’s driver and his uncle Vijayan, who was with him in the vehicle, escaped with minor injuries. The car was severely damaged in the incident.

Transport Commissioner C.H. Nagaraju said the accident is suspected to have occurred due to pure negligence. “The driver was being trained by his uncle at the time of the crash. This is a clear case of overspeeding and mishandling of the vehicle. Besides, the driver was operating a standard car, and not one suited for training purposes with a double pedal system,” he said.

The Cantonment police have registered a case in connection with the incident. Official sources said that Vishnunath holds a driving license issued in 2019, and claims to have been familiarising himself with driving again after a considerable time.

Thiruvananthapuram Regional Transport Officer (Enforcement) V.S. Ajith Kumar said the car was driven at high speed, and the driver appears to have mistakenly pressed the accelerator instead of the brake, which caused the vehicle to lose control. Preliminary probe ruled out the possibility of a technical malfunction.

He also indicated the possibility of stringent measures including the suspension of the licenses of both the driver and the passenger.