Kannur: It was supposed to be a weekend of music, celebrations and a family wedding. Instead, it ended in tragedy that has devastated five families spread across Kerala, Delhi and Hyderabad.

Shaan Siraj (21), an aeronautical engineering graduate from Alavil in Kannur, had invited four of his closest college friends from Bengaluru to attend his cousin sister's wedding on Sunday. The celebrations began on Friday.

The five friends left Bengaluru at around 4 pm on Friday in a car. Nearly eight hours later, and just 20 km or about 40 minutes from Shaan's home, their journey came to a violent end when the car crashed into a roadside tree at Koodali near Mattannur at around 11.30 pm.

Shaan, Mohammed Rizwan (21) of Arayil in Kanhangad, Param Chhetri (21) of New Delhi and Harsh Sathuri (21) of Hyderabad were killed. Their friend, Aditya Krishnan of Thrissur, is battling for life with serious injuries.

The five had studied together at the VSM Institute of Aerospace Engineering and Technology at Yelahanka in Bengaluru. Having completed their engineering course barely two months ago, they had only just begun the next phase of their lives. Shaan, an aeronautical engineering graduate, had recently joined an engineering firm in Bengaluru, while his friends were still looking for jobs after graduation. The five remained a close-knit group, said Shaan's cousin, Amaan Abdulla.

Before starting the drive, the friends clicked a cheerful "carfie" inside the vehicle and sent it to Amaan waiting in Kannur. It became the last photograph their families received.

"They sent us the selfie around 4 pm, saying they had started," said Amaan in Azhikode. "You can only see Rizwan's eyes in the photograph," said Suibath Arayil, Rizwan's friend, who couldn't speak much.

Relatives were preparing to welcome Shaan and his friends when news of the crash reached the wedding house around midnight.

The ambulance driver who reached the spot said the impact was so severe that the car was mangled beyond recognition and rescuers had to cut open the vehicle to extricate the occupants. The clothes the friends had packed for the wedding celebrations were found scattered inside the wreckage.

Mattannur police said they suspect the driver may have dozed off at the wheel, causing the car to veer off the road and crash into a tree.

Shaan is survived by his parents, Siraj Moideen and Shamna Siraj, and his elder sister, Shammi. Rizwan is survived by his mother Reenath, father Basheer Vattathode, who works in Kuwait, and a brother and a sister. Relatives of Param Chhetri from New Delhi, Harsh Sathuri from Hyderabad and the injured Aditya Krishnan from Thrissur were on their way to Kannur, said Amaan.