Pursuing world record, son of Meerut businessman dies in Chile road accident

Mohit Kohli, an ultra-endurance cyclist and bikepacker, who hailed from Meerut, died in Chile after being run over by a vehicle on Wednesday morning.

- Deepak Lavania and Somya Lakhani

MEERUT: The 36-year-old embarked on a journey on January 22, in a bid to break the world record for the fastest bicycle crossing of South America, from Cartagena in Colombia to Ushuaia in Argentina - a distance of 10,000 km.

Son of a prominent businessman, the 36-year-old is survived by his parents and his younger brother, Mudit, who confirmed his death "somewhere in the middle of the desert in Chile."

Mudit told HT, "Due to the severity of his injuries, he lost his life. The investigation team was requested to analyse and determine the dynamics and the underlying cause of this accident," he said.

A friend of Kohli's who studied at Modern School in Delhi with him, and asked not to be named, told HT, "On Thursday, our friends were tagged in a post on Instagram where someone from Chile informed them that Mohit had died, and that they were trying to get in touch with his family... That's when our friend informed Mohit's parents, who are on their way to Chile now... We are all heartbroken."

Kohli's brother, who is based in London, left for Chile, and his father Pranneet Kohli and other family members boarded a flight from Delhi on Friday to bring Kohli's remains back to India.