A 14-year-old girl heading home from a volleyball tournament has been identified as the third person killed in a horror three-vehicle smash at the end of a long weekend in country Victoria.
Two people died at the scene, and police confirmed a third victim, teen Tenesha Fieldsend died in hospital. She was on her way home after winning bronze in the Junior Country Championship in Horsham when the crash happened early on Sunday night.
“Tenesha was a much loved part of our sporting community and will be sadly missed by her teammates,” Latrobe Valley Volleyball said in a statement.
Volleyball Victoria said the tragedy has “sent shockwaves through the tight-knit community.”
Two occupants in an MG ZS SUV died at the scene, and they were yet to be formally identified, the police spokesperson said.
Tenesha’s 17-year-old learner-driver brother was behind the wheel of her family’s Mitsubishi Triton when it clipped a truck, before slamming into another car on the Western Highway at Ledcourt, 200km northwest of Melbourne in the Northern Grampians area, according to police.
Detective Acting Sergeant Leigh Miller told reporters one vehicle hit the side of a truck and then struck another car.
“Sadly, two people in the third vehicle are both deceased,” he said on Sunday.
“The car has collided into the side of a truck and then collided with a third vehicle, being another car.
“It’s the holiday period. It was getting late in the afternoon, traffic was really busy, people were heading home.”
Four people were in the first car, including a young girl who was critically injured, Sergeant Miller said at the time.
On Monday morning, police said the 14-year-old girl had died in hospital and released more details of those involved.
Tenesha Fieldsend is one of three people who have died on the Western Highway in Ledcourt in the Grampians Picture: Instagram
Three people have died and two have been injured in a multi-vehicle crash in when two cars and a truck collided on the Western Highway in Ledcourt Picture: 9News
Three people have died and two have been injured in a multi-vehicle crash in when two cars and a truck collided on the Western Highway in Ledcourt Picture: 9News
Tenesha was flown to the Royal Children’s Hospital with her brother and 11-year-old sister, but couldn’t be saved, according to reports. Her siblings sustained minor injuries.
Her 43-year-old mother was also in the car but wasn’t seriously hurt.
Images from the scene show a bute with a hard canopy has been badly damaged after rolling and coming to rest on its roof with the front wheels pointing sideways. Much of the engine bay is crumpled.
The front of another vehicle has similarly been badly damaged, and the roof appears to have been cut open by emergency services.
The crash happened about 6.45pm on Sunday on the Western Highway at the end of Victoria’s long weekend.
The 29-year-old truck driver was uninjured and stopped at the scene.
Victoria Police Detective Acting Sergeant Leigh Miller said the cause of the crash was under investigation.
“At this stage we don’t know why the collision has occurred, but what we will be investigating is whether fatigue or distraction, whether speed is involved,” he said.
Police want anyone with dashcam footage from the highway near Mount Drummond Road to come forward.