Source : the age
A “cherished student” was one of two people killed in a crash in rural Victoria over the weekend, leaving a tight-knit town devastated, and a woman and girl fighting for life.
Four people were travelling in a car on Briagolong Road at Briagolong, north of Maffra, on Sunday, when it crashed at about 3.45pm.
Two people have died and two others are fighting for their lives after a single-car crash in Gippsland.Credit: Nine
Two people were found dead at the scene, including the teenager, who was a student of Maffra Secondary College.
The two other victims, a woman and a teenage girl who was thrown from the vehicle, sustained life-threatening upper-body injuries. Victoria Police are yet to publicly identify anyone involved.
The girl and the woman were flown to Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital and The Alfred, respectively, on Sunday. They were still fighting for their lives on Tuesday.
No other vehicles were involved in the crash.
Counsellors sat in on a meeting with Maffra Secondary school staff on Monday morning, preparing to support teachers and students.
A Department of Education spokesperson said: “Our thoughts are with the Maffra Secondary College and broader community, as they mourn the loss of a cherished student.
“We are also thinking of the family and friends of the deceased student at this sad time.”
The Age understands all four people involved in the crash were local to the Briagolong area.
Wellington Shire mayor Scott Rossetti said the community was reeling.
“In small communities like Briagolong, tragedies like this will have a profound impact for years to come,” Rossetti said.
“Our thoughts are with family, the emergency services who attended, and all those affected by this terrible loss.”
Residents of Briagolong – a tight-knit, rural town in the Gippsland region – have complained that the stretch of road where the crash happened is dangerous and in a state of disrepair, partly because of heavy vehicle traffic in the area.
Anne Orman said she had a near-miss on the road when a truck failed to give way to her, but she noticed a cloud of dust in the distance and slowed down to avoid a collision.
“Living in this community, it really hits hard,” Orman wrote in a comment on Facebook. “That section of road concerns me as there is a gravel road that comes out onto the main road.”
Major collision investigation unit detectives are still investigating the exact circumstances of the crash. Briagolong Road was closed for about 17 hours after the incident, before reopening on Monday morning.
As of last week, almost 100 people had died on Victoria’s roads – an increase of two people compared with the same time in 2024.
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