A 27-year-old woman was killed while her husband and three other people were injured when their SUV crashed into an electricity pole on the Sector 9/10 road divider while returning from her birthday party in the wee hours of Wednesday.

This was seventh fatality in as many road accidents in Chandigarh this year.

The victim has been identified as Shrishti Goyal, a homemaker who belonged to Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh and was accompanying her husband, Raghav Goyal, a tea trader. The two got married 10 months ago, said police.

Besides them, there were four people in the Toyota Land Cruiser that met with the accident — Mudit Gupta (also a tea trader) and his wife Aaru, also from Muzaffarnagar; Kunal, 26, a businessman who belongs to Panipat and was behind the wheel; and Abhishek Kumar of Sector 21, Panchkula, at whose place they all were staying.

“It was Shrishti’s birthday on Tuesday. The two couples had stopped at Abhishek’s house after returning from Shimla. After dinner, they decided to go out for coffee and celebrate Shrishti’s birthday at Hotel Mountview in Sector 10,” said an investigating official, who did not wish to be named.

While they were returning to Panchkula around 1:40am, Kunal lost control of the speeding vehicle on the road leading to Matka Chowk, and crashed it into an electricity pole on the divider. The SUV overturned multiple times before coming to a halt, and was badly damaged, said police.

Shrishti and her husband were rushed to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, but she could not survive. Mudit and Aaru were admitted to Government Multi Specialty Hospital, Sector 16, where they are being treated for fractured arms.

Kunal, who too was injured, was not under the influence of liquor, confirmed police. Meanwhile, Abhishek escaped unhurt.

Kunal has been booked under Sections 304A (causing death due to negligence), 279 (rash driving), and 337 (causing hurt by doing any act so rashly or negligently as to endanger human life) of the Indian Penal Code. He was arrested, but later released on bail.