CHENNAI:  An Indian race-car driver and his wife were killed early Saturday after their BMW crashed into a tree and burst into flames in southern India, police said.

Driver Ashwin Sundar and his wife Nivedhitha were on their way home when their car swerved out of control and rammed into the tree in Tamil Nadu state's capital Chennai.

"The vehicle got stuck between the tree and the compound wall on the road side... (and then) the car caught fire," S. Yuvraj, a local investigative police officer, told AFP.

Yuvraj said the couple were trapped in the blazing vehicle after it auto-locked from the impact. Traffic police recovered their charred bodies after managing to get the car open.

Sundar was a rising star in the car racing industry, winning the National F4 championships in 2012 and 2013. He signed a deal with German racing team Ma-Con Motorsport and drove for the German Formula Volkswagen ADAC Championship in 2008. -AFP