source : the age
Fourteen-year-old Tenesha Fieldsend was on her way home from a volleyball competition when a learner driver hit a truck and collided head-on with another car, in a horrific long weekend crash that left three people dead.
Emergency services were called to the Western Highway near Mount Drummond Road in Ledcourt in the Grampians – about 250 kilometres north-west of Melbourne – at 6.45pm on Sunday.
Detective Acting Sergeant Leigh Miller, from the Major Collision Investigation Unit, said that after a grey Mitsubishi Triton with L-plates hit the side of the truck, it veered onto the wrong side of the road and struck an oncoming white MG ZS.
Fieldsend, who was a passenger in the Mitsubishi, was flown to hospital in critical condition, but later died.
In a tribute posted on social media, Latrobe Valley Volleyball Inc said that her team had won bronze in a junior country championship event in Horsham over the weekend before she tragically died.
“Tenesha was a much-loved part of our sporting community and will be sadly missed by her teammates, coaches, friends and our wider volleyball members,” they wrote in a statement.
“Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with her family, friends and all those who had the privilege of knowing her.
“She will be greatly missed and fondly remembered by our sporting community.”
The people in the MG who died at the scene are yet to be formally identified.
Police later confirmed that a 17-year-old boy, who was driving the Mitsubishi, and an 11-year-old girl suffered minor injuries and were flown to the Royal Children’s Hospital by helicopter ambulance. They are both in a stable condition.
A 43-year-old woman in the same car was not injured but was taken to hospital for observation.
“The car’s collided with the side of a truck and then collided with a third vehicle, being another car,” Miller said on Sunday night.
“Sadly, the two people in the third vehicle are both deceased. The car that crossed onto the wrong side of the road, four people were involved in that.”
Miller said the 29-year-old truck driver was not injured and stopped to assist at the scene.
“At this stage, we don’t know why the collision has occurred. We will be investigating whether fatigue or distraction, or speed’s involved,” he said.
“It’s the holiday period, it’s getting late in the afternoon. Traffic was really busy, people are heading home.
“We want to make sure that everyone gets home safely these days. Today, [three] people aren’t going home, and it’s a sad and tragic event.”
Anyone who witnessed the crash, has CCTV/dashcam footage or anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit an online confidential report atwww.crimestoppersvic.com.au.
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