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Dubai: Popular car racer Ashwin Sundar and his wife Niveditha were charred to death after their BMW lost control, hit a tree and burst into flames in Pattinampakkam in Chennai. The two passengers could not get out of the car in time.

Police officials said that the incident happened around 3:30 am on Saturday and both Ashwin and his wife died on the spot. Police officials confirmed that the racer was driving above the allowed speed limit.

A video has been circulating on social media in which the car can be seen in flames next to a tree. People are standing at a distance and recording a video, with one user beaming it live on Facebook.

One person on the spot said during the FB live that people on the spot could not go near the car to help the passengers in the car because it caught fire and explosions continued, and nobody could get close enough to help them.

Ashwin was 27-years-old and had earlier quit school and taken up a correspondence course. When he was 14-years-old, his father felt that it was better for him to race on the track than on the streets, according to his previous interviews.

In 2008, Ashwin Sundar signed a deal with German racing team Ma Con Motorsport and drove for the German Formula Volkswagen ADAC Championship.

This comes days after the Chennai Police had seized ten luxury cars for racing on the East Coast Road and arrested one person for allegedly driving over the foot of a police inspector.