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NEW DELHI, India - A valet at a five-star hotel in the Indian capital caused damage to a Lamborghini Gallardo to the equivalent of R3.6-million after crashing it into a concrete wall in front of horrified guests.
A photograph of the crash at the Le Meridien hotel, published in The Times of India newspaper, showed the severely crumpled nose of the sleek white supercar with its bonnet forced up.
A hotel spokesperson told AFP: "We get all kinds of luxury cars and important guests and hold outstanding events. This was something completely inadvertent."
VIDEO: Hotel valet crashes Lamborghini Gallardo
The spokesperson said the valet had been working at the hotel for ten years and appeared to have lost control of the Italian speedster on the slippery forecourt after an early-afternoon rain shower.
CCTV footage shows the valet bringing the car to the porch of the multi-storey hotel, which has several restaurants and a bar, and then briefly get out, The Times of India said. After getting back behind the wheel he then lurched forward inexplicably, sending a colleague diving for cover before piling head-on into the wall.
ON 'LOAN'
The car had been borrowed from its owner, a Mumbai-based businessman reportedly in the construction business, and driven to the hotel by a cousin.
"The car had been parked by valets a number of times previously," a friend of the owner, Nipun Miglani, was quoted as saying by The Times of India.
A police case has been filed against Le Meridien, which has refused to accept responsibility, as well as the valet, named as Arun Kumar. The owner claims the repairs have been estimated at the equivalent of R3.6-million.
The rear-wheel-drive Gallardo is capable of a top speed of about 321km/h and has an engine packing more than 410kW.
It sells in Europe for the equivalent of R2.6-million but import duties on supercars usually double its sale price in India - not enough to deter New Delhi's growing band of millionaires.
The valet was taken to hospital head injury treatment but was discharged the same day. The hotel said he was currently off work. The hotel spokesperson said: "We have given him leave until such time that he recovers psychologically and till the time that the insurance claim and other processes clear.
"We may not put him back on valet. We will give him time because he may get nervous initially."
A photograph of the crash at the Le Meridien hotel, published in The Times of India newspaper, showed the severely crumpled nose of the sleek white supercar with its bonnet forced up.
A hotel spokesperson told AFP: "We get all kinds of luxury cars and important guests and hold outstanding events. This was something completely inadvertent."
VIDEO: Hotel valet crashes Lamborghini Gallardo
The spokesperson said the valet had been working at the hotel for ten years and appeared to have lost control of the Italian speedster on the slippery forecourt after an early-afternoon rain shower.
CCTV footage shows the valet bringing the car to the porch of the multi-storey hotel, which has several restaurants and a bar, and then briefly get out, The Times of India said. After getting back behind the wheel he then lurched forward inexplicably, sending a colleague diving for cover before piling head-on into the wall.
ON 'LOAN'
The car had been borrowed from its owner, a Mumbai-based businessman reportedly in the construction business, and driven to the hotel by a cousin.
"The car had been parked by valets a number of times previously," a friend of the owner, Nipun Miglani, was quoted as saying by The Times of India.
A police case has been filed against Le Meridien, which has refused to accept responsibility, as well as the valet, named as Arun Kumar. The owner claims the repairs have been estimated at the equivalent of R3.6-million.
The rear-wheel-drive Gallardo is capable of a top speed of about 321km/h and has an engine packing more than 410kW.
It sells in Europe for the equivalent of R2.6-million but import duties on supercars usually double its sale price in India - not enough to deter New Delhi's growing band of millionaires.
The valet was taken to hospital head injury treatment but was discharged the same day. The hotel said he was currently off work. The hotel spokesperson said: "We have given him leave until such time that he recovers psychologically and till the time that the insurance claim and other processes clear.
"We may not put him back on valet. We will give him time because he may get nervous initially."
