Three Indian men killed while on holiday in the Highlands were driving to find snow, it has emerged.
The three university friends died after the silver Honda Civic they were in collided with a lorry on the A828 Connel to Ballachulish road near Castle Stalker on Friday.
A fourth man was critically injured.
It is the latest in a series of recent fatal collisions in the Highlands, with nine people killed in region in less than two weeks.
Leicester University friends Girish Subramanyam, 23, and Pavan Bashetty, 23, both from Bengaluru; and Sudhakar Modepalli, 30, from Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore district died at the scene.
A fourth occupant of the car, named by The Times of India as Sai Varma Chilakamari, from Hyderabad, was airlifted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow.
He was seriously hurt, but is believed to be out of danger.
‘Going to a place with snowfall’
The Consulate General of India in Edinburgh is liaising with the families and will help to get the bodies flown home.
The 47-year-old male driver of the black HGV was arrested in connection with a road traffic offence, but has been released pending further inquiries.
Mr Subramanyam and Mr Bashetty were studying for master’s degrees at Leicester University, while Mr Modepalli had already graduated and was working.
She said she had spoken to her son the day before the tragedy and he said he was “going to a place with snowfall” and would call the next morning. But the call never came.
Emergency services were called to the crash in the Appin area at around 2.30pm on Friday.
Six fire crews from Spean Bridge, Kinlochleven, Inverness, Fort William, Appin and Oban attended, along with land and air ambulance units.
The road was closed for about 12 hours while a collision investigation was carried out.
Sergeant Kevin Craig said: “At this time, our thoughts are with the families and friends of the deceased men.
“I would also like to thank the public for their patience and understanding as officers attended the scene and carried out their inquiries.”
Anyone with information should call 101, quoting incident 1976 of Friday, August 19.
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