A 25-year-old Indian student hailing from Telangana was killed and six others were injured in a late-night highway crash near Chicago after a minivan carrying seven adults veered off the road and plunged into a roadside ditch in Indiana.

The victim, identified as Navya Gadusu, a resident of Chicago hailing from Nalgonda district of Telangana, died after the vehicle she was travelling in met with an accident on Interstate 65 near Crown Point in Lake County late on Saturday. She was pronounced dead at 12:16 am on Sunday by the Lake County Coroner's Office, which cited blunt force traumatic injuries sustained in the crash as the cause of death.

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According to the Indiana State Police, the collision occurred around 11:15 pm when a red minivan with seven adults on board was moving at a very low speed on the northbound lane of I-65 behind another vehicle that was experiencing mechanical problems.

Investigators said the minivan was travelling at about 10–15 mph when a second car approached from behind; its driver, apparently unaware of how slowly the van was moving, tried to swerve left to avoid it but clipped the left side of the minivan, sending it off the roadway into a ditch. The disabled vehicle that the minivan had been following was not struck in the incident, police added.

State police and responding troopers found one vehicle blocking lanes on the highway and the red minivan lying in a ditch on the right side of the road, with multiple occupants seriously hurt. Several injured passengers were rushed to nearby hospitals in Indiana and later transferred to medical facilities in the Chicago area for further treatment, officials said, without immediately releasing their identities.

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In a detail that has drawn particular concern from investigators, police said the minivan was fitted with only two front seats, while the remaining five passengers were seated on boxes of mangoes in the rear and were not wearing seat belts at the time of the crash. Road safety experts note that such seating arrangements dramatically increase the risk of fatal and severe injuries in high-impact collisions, especially on high-speed interstate highways.

The Indian Consulate General in Chicago expressed grief over the incident and said it was in touch with Gadusu’s family as well as local authorities. "We are deeply saddened by the tragic passing away of Indian student Navya Gadusu in a road accident near Chicago. Our heartfelt condolences to her family and friends during this difficult time," the mission said in a post on X, adding that it was coordinating assistance for those injured in the crash.

Local media in the United States reported that Gadusu had been living in the Chicago area while pursuing higher studies, though details of her academic programme were not immediately available. Community groups from the Telugu diaspora in the Midwest are understood to be working with the consulate and family members to facilitate funeral arrangements and provide support.