The grieving fiancee of one of four men killed in a car crash in Victoria’s high country has paid a heart-breaking tribute, as more details about the fiery tragedy emerge.
The men’s burned-out car was found by a passerby on Sunday morning to the side of Mansfield-Woods Point Road in Piries, south-east of Mansfield.
It is believed four men aged in their 20s were in the KIA people mover when it spun out of control and hit an embankment, before ramming into a tree and bursting into flames.
All occupants died at the scene. But even on Monday afternoon, police were yet to finally confirm how many people were in the car.
“It’s really difficult because of the nature of the collision and the catastrophic fire that occurred after, we’ve had our disaster victim identification people there all day,” Victoria Police assistant commissioner Glenn Weir told 3AW radio station on Monday.
“We’re fairly confident we know who they are. They are all people from overseas, from the Pacific Islands, who were here working in the vegetable industry in and around Mansfield.”
The men’s car was rented from a west Gippsland company.
Weir said alcohol was a key line of inquiry. Police have confirmed that the group met friends in a nearby town on Saturday night, drinking alcohol before they headed back home to Mansfield.
The grieving fiancee of one of the men, named as Samoan David Gasologa, posted a heartfelt tribute to social media on Monday.
“I love you always and forever,” Vaelei A Von Dincklage wrote.
“You really are not coming back to me, aye. I’ll see you on the other side babey (sic). I was patiently waiting for your return.”
Weir said speed would also be investigated as a possible cause of the accident, which happened in an area where kangaroos and deer were common.
The deadly crash continues an alarming trend in Victoria. More than 250 lives have already been lost on state’s roads this year, surpassing its 2022 full-year road toll of 241.
“This collision is the latest in a series of multideath collisions we’ve had in Victoria this year,” Weir said.
“There are 34 extra lives lost from multivehicle fatalities this year.
“The last time we saw a [road toll of 256] was in 2008.”
Also on Sunday, two more people died when their small hatchback lost control and crashed with a truck and ute along the Midland Highway in Goornong near Bendigo.
Just a week ago, five people died when a four-wheel-drive ploughed into a beer garden in the popular tourist town of Daylesford.
-with AAP