Northern Territory road crash: Parents and four young daughters who died in fiery smash identified – as dad is revealed as repeat drink driver who didn’t put kids in seat belts

EXCLUSIVE

A father who died along with his partner and four young daughters in a horrific road crash in the Northern Territory was a repeat drunk driver who failed to put children in seat belts.

Desert council ranger Titus White, 34, his partner Lisa Martin and their daughters aged one to nine, were driving their Mitsubishi Pajero when it fell into the path of a three-way train on Friday afternoon.

Their vehicle carrying the six from Lajamanu – a remote indigenous community halfway between Daring and Alice Springs – exploded in a fireball that burned for more than five hours and left little human remains.

White, who worked as a ranger for eight years and performed as a traditional Indigenous dancer, had four drunk driving convictions – two medium and two high – dating back to 2014.

He was accused of driving children around without regular detention between 2014 and 2021. He was also caught four times for driving while disqualified, driving an uninsured and unregistered motor vehicle and breaching bail.

Lisa Martin and Titus White had four young daughters (over) under the age of 10 who all died in the horror crash on an NT highway last Friday

The couple’s Mitsubishi Pajero was traveling north on the Stuart Highway when it veered into the path of a road train and erupted into a fireball that burned for more than five hours.

At the time of his death, White was charged with domestic violence and aggravated assault in connection with February of this year.

NT Police said they were not ruling out “alcohol, fatigue or domestic violence” as reasons for the tragic blow – the deadliest in the NT for more than 15 years.

The family was traveling in Pine Creek, near Katherine, south of Darwin, at about 4.40pm on Friday when they turned into the southbound lane of the Stuart Highway and into the path of a three-way train laden with produce, cars and fuel.

A friend said the deceased sisters “were all little toddlers, which makes this all the more difficult”, and that the “devastated” community of Lajamanu had held traditional ceremonies for the family “during this terrible time”.

Lisa Martin (left) and her partner Titus White (right) lived in Lajamanu and are believed to have been traveling between Katherine and Darwin at the time of the crash

Police said they were not ruling out “alcohol, fatigue or domestic violence” as reasons for the blow

Family and friends are reeling from the enormity of the tragedy, posting about their heartbreak and warning about drunk driving

While family members and friends posted emotional messages on Facebook and one person warned of the dangers of drink-driving, hundreds of mourners gathered in Lajamanu and the surrounding area for ‘sorry camps’ in the coming days.

The community is still reeling from the recent deaths of two adults in a car crash on the Buntine Highway near the Victoria River, 150 kilometers north of Lajamanu.

‘They just regret that. Now they’re starting all over again, but mainly for girls under ten years old. Just horrible,” the friend said.

Two daughters of Lisa Martin, of whom she regularly posted photos on Facebook and called ‘little princesses’

Titus White (above) trained to become a desert ranger for the Northern Territory in 2015 and worked on the job for eight years until his tragic death last Friday

An onlooker told Nine News that when the road train driver ‘tried to help the family… he just got away with his life, I will never forget the look on his face’.

NT Police Commissioner Michael Murphy said police had “never seen anything like” the scale of the accident.

“Although we call it an accident, it’s not really an accident,” he said.

“There’s some kind of element involved that can contribute to that, whether it’s mechanical, it can be a road surface, it can be a roadway, a human.”

The police do not assume that there was a crime by the truck driver, who was driving with a co-driver.

“They have some injuries, but the psychological injuries will be with them for the rest of their lives,” Cr Murphy said.

Road train company Shaw’s Transport released a statement saying: ‘Our sympathy and condolences are offered to the family and friends of those who have lost their lives

“The truck drivers’ injuries are expected to heal over time and we are arranging supportive counseling for them and their families.”