Yunesh Naidu: Father-of-two who was just 1km away from home is crushed to death in a horror crash in Rowville when a 30-tonne truck ploughed into two cars
A father-of-two was killed instantly when a 30-ton truck collided with his car on a highway just a mile from his home.
Yunesh Naidu, 52, drove onto Wellington Road in Rowville, in Melbourne’s south-east, when a truck hit him at an intersection about 8.50am on Thursday.
The truck is believed to have run a red light while traveling westbound on the highway as Mr Naidu turned onto the road in his Kia sedancausing the two to collide.
Mr Naidu’s Kia turned upside down and became stuck under the truck, which then crashed into another car before hitting a pole and coming to a stop.
No one else was injured in the fatal crash and the 27-year-old truck driver from Dandenong is now helping police with their investigation.
Father-of-two Yunesh Naidu, 52, was killed at 8.30am on Thursday when a 30-tonne truck ran a red light on Melbourne’s Wellington Road, crushing his Kia sedan.
Two other cars were damaged in the collision, but no one else was injured
Witnesses say they heard relentless honking shortly before the crash, followed by a “big bang and a crash.”
“There were ambulance sounds everywhere, so some families will be very sad today,” said a witness told 9News.
Another witness said a hairdresser driving her sedan was in the second car that was hit.
A Mercedes was also damaged after the pole with which the truck had collided fell and landed on it.
Multiple fire trucks, ambulances and police units responded to the accident and immediately shut down traffic.
Mr Naidu, a supply chain executive, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officers are now investigating whether the truck’s brakes were defective.
The 27-year-old truck driver from Dandenong was taken to Knox Police Station where he is assisting police with their investigation
Friends of the truck driver said he was an experienced driver who moved from India to Australia more than a decade ago.
He is now being questioned by police at Knox Police Station.
Naidu’s death is the second in 12 hours on Victorian roads, after a 22-year-old died in Fitzroy North in Melbourne’s inner west at 11.30pm on Wednesday.
Deputies said the man’s car struck a pole, causing it to roll over several times, and the driver was pronounced dead at the scene.