An 11-year-old boy who was tragically killed when a car crashed into a beer garden sent a text to his friend 35 minutes earlier asking what he was up to.
Vihaan Bhatia was murdered along with his father Vivek Bhatia, 38, their family friends Pratibha Sharma, 44, and Jatin Chugh, 30, as well as Sharma’s daughter, nine, then a white BMW X5 smashed into the courtyard of the Royal Hotel in Daylesford on Sunday115 km northwest of Melbourne.
Vihaan’s mother, Ruchi Bhatia, was rushed to the Royal Melbourne Hospital and remains in intensive care. His brother Abeer is being treated for internal injuries at the Royal Children’s Hospital.
The group had been seated for 30 seconds before the out-of-control car plowed through the beer garden at 6:05 p.m., 7News reported.
The driver, a 66-year-old Macedonian man who remains in hospital, had no drugs or alcohol in his system and was believed to be experiencing a medical episode at the time.
Vivek Bhatia, 38, (left) and his eldest son Vihaan, 11, (bottom right) were killed in the horror crash in Daylesford, 115km northwest of Melbourne, on Sunday evening. His wife Ruchi and their youngest son are recovering in hospital
Vihaan texted his best friend Udayveer Thind asking what he was doing 35 minutes before an out-of-control white BMW
Vihaan had texted his friend Udayveer from his mother’s phone while he was in the pub, The age reported.
“Hey Uday, are you there?” it reads.
“Yo, how you doing?” Udayveer responded in the minutes after the crash.
The driver had missed a sharp right turn on Albert Street and mounted a curb before plowing into a crowd of dozens of people sitting inside and outside the pub.
Witnesses say they saw the man slumped behind the wheel with his “eyes glazed over” as his car sped towards the beer garden.
The dead were respected members of Melbourne’s Indian community, who realized something was wrong when Mr Bhatia failed to show up for work on Monday.
said Udayveer’s father that his son could not stop crying and that the community was reeling when they learned of the extent of the tragedy.
“It’s really shocking for everyone, we can’t believe it,” said Simarjeet Thind.
The two families had been neighbors in Tarneit, in Melbourne’s west, for a month and a half, and Mr Thind said Mr Bhatia had just finished renovating his home.
Vihaan and Abeer were playing football at the Thind’s house on Friday, while Ms Sharma and Mr Chugh were inside planning a block party.
Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, takes place on November 12 and the families plan to celebrate together.
Before the Bhatias left for Daylesford for a long weekend, they handed the Thinds their house keys ‘just in case there is an emergency’.
Pictured: An image showing how the car crash in Daylesford unfolded on Sunday
Pratibha Sharma, her daughter Anvi and Jatin Chugh (pictured) also died in the crash that rocked Melbourne’s Indian community
Two days after he last saw the Bhatias, Mr. Thind was on the phone with their parents to break the horrific news.
The grandparents are now on their way from India to Victoria to look after Mrs Bhatia and Abeer and at the same time organize the funerals.
Mr Thind said the two families had become so close that he considered moving Udayveer to Vihaan’s school so they could spend more time together.
A multi-faith vigil will be held in Daylesford on Wednesday and a community vigil will be held later this week in Wyndham, in Melbourne’s far west, to remember those who died in the crash.
Wyndham City Mayor Susan McIntyre visited the Daylesford memorial on Tuesday to express the thoughts of her ‘heartbroken’ community.
She said since so many West Melbourne residents are first-generation Australians, they need to stick together during tough times.
“We have people from all over the world, so people don’t necessarily have extended family support, so our community is really supportive,” she said.
The 66-year-old driver of the white BMW X5 (pictured) remains in a Ballarat hospital and detectives have traveled from Melbourne in the hope of interviewing him on Wednesday.
The Royal Hotel is expected to remain closed until Thursday, with a memorial outside as locals mourn.
Flowers, toys and other items important to the victims were left outside the pub near some tire tracks still in the grass from Sunday.
The driver of the BMW is currently recovering in a Ballarat hospital and police said he was not known to them before Sunday’s crash.
Melbourne detectives have traveled to Ballarat and will spend Tuesday evening with the man and expect to interview him on Wednesday to understand what happened.
Counseling has been offered to all involved in the accident and police have said they plan to review the accident at a later date.