Four children were among six people killed in a horror car crash that saw their vehicle erupt in a ‘big fireball’.
A 2009 Mitsubishi Pajero, carrying two adults and four children, veered to the other side of the Stuart Highway near a small town in Katherine, in the Northern Territory, before colliding head-on with a road train on Friday afternoon.
The six occupants of the Mitsubishi 4WD were killed, while the driver and passenger of the truck escaped with non-life-threatening injuries.
NT Police Detective Senior Sergeant Brendan Lindner said it would be a “long process” to identify the victims given the severity of the crash.
He said the people in the Mitsubishi didn’t stand a chance as the car was consumed by a “large fireball” that took firefighters six hours to extinguish.
A 2009 Mitsubishi Pajero, carrying two adults and four children, veered to the other side of the Stuart Highway near a small town in Katherine, in the Northern Territory, before colliding head-on with a road train on Friday afternoon.
“The intensity of the fire unfortunately meant that there were few human remains left,” Sergeant Lindner said.
“There was nothing anyone there could do to try to save the people, but obviously they’re going to be scarred from this.
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The victims, believed to be a family of six, are reportedly from the Big Rivers region and had purchased the 4WD just a week earlier.
Police are now trying to find out what caused the crash, which has become the deadliest collision in the Northern Territory in 16 years.
Sergeant Lindner said alcohol may have been a factor but the investigation was still in its early stages.
“This was a confrontational crash that resulted in significant loss of life,” Sergeant Lindner said.
“Due to the serious nature of the crash, identifying the deceased is likely to be a lengthy process as we work to gain some understanding of the families involved and how the crash occurred.”
The victims are not expected to be identified until Thursday at the earliest.
Investigators face the grim task of identifying the six victims of the Northern Territory’s deadliest road crash in more than sixteen years
The six occupants of the Mitsubishi 4WD were killed, while the driver and passenger of the truck escaped with non-life-threatening injuries
Police Commissioner Michael Murphy said Monday it would be a significant investigation.
“We understand it could be a family from the Northern Territory,” he said on ABC Radio.
“A very complex and lengthy investigation is still underway to identify who these people are.”
Police Commissioner Murphy expressed his condolences and sincere thanks to the emergency services who were first on the scene of the devastating crash.
“Our thoughts go out to the extended family and the people who responded to the incident – the police, the fire department, the emergency services, St. John, not just (them), but the two surviving men from the truck,” said he.
‘Also their level of heroism, because they basically tried everything they could, but couldn’t save their lives because of the fire.
“They were transported to the Katherine District Hospital where they were treated for some minor injuries, physical injuries, but I would imagine the psychological injuries for these (men) will last a long time.”
Authorities received reports of a collision between a truck and a car along the Stuart Highway, about 7.5 miles south of Pine Creek, around 4:15 p.
m.
“Multiple people within the 4WD have died at the scene and the recovery process has begun this morning,” NT Police said in a statement on Saturday.
NT Police reopened the Stuart Highway on Sunday after significant delays in the area over the weekend.
Sergeant Lindner urged anyone traveling in the area between 2.30pm and 4.45pm on Friday with dashcam footage to contact police.
Anyone with information about the identities and movements of the 4WD occupants is also urged to come forward.
“If you haven’t heard from your loved ones, please call us on 131 444 so we can help you,” Mr Murphy said.
In 2023, 19 lives were lost on NT roads.
Territory Expeditions tour driver Daniel Hall spotted the plume of smoke several kilometers away on the highway, prompting him to rush to the scene.
Police are racing to find out what caused the crash, which has become the deadliest collision in the Northern Territory in 16 years
He told NT news that within minutes of the crash, other drivers had stopped to coordinate traffic and provide first aid to the driver of the Shaw’s Road Train.
But no one could save the people in the Mitsubishi.
“Whoever was in that car had no chance of surviving or being rescued in any way,” Mr Hall said.
‘The whole car was one big fireball.
“Those people, they didn’t have a chance.”
Two people in the truck managed to escape and were treated for minor injuries at the Royal Darwin Hospital.
Mr Hall said one of the survivors had ‘cuts and bruises all over’ and a look of ‘utter devastation’ in his eyes.
“When his train caught fire … he had that look on his face like he was getting away with his life by the skin of his teeth,” he said.