Family killed in Daylesford pub crash that left five dead identified - The Age

A woman who ran for state parliament and local council was killed along with her daughter and partner in the weekend’s devastating Daylesford beer garden crash that left five people dead.

Pratibha Sharma, 44, her daughter Anvi, 9, and partner Jatin Chugh, 30, were killed in the tragic crash as people were enjoying their Sunday evening at the Royal Daylesford Hotel when a BMW ploughed through the packed beer garden, striking several diners.

Pratibha Sharma, 44, her husband Jatin Chugh, 30, and her daughter Anvi, 9, have been identified as three of the victims of the Daylesford crash.

The driver of the SUV is expected to be interviewed by major crash investigators on Tuesday as the town reels from the tragedy.

The Mount Macedon man, 66, now holds the key to unravelling how a weekend getaway between two families turned to tragedy.

Gurjit Singh, secretary of the Australian Sikh Support where Sharma volunteered, confirmed to this masthead she had been killed in the crash.

“We are very shocked to hear that our volunteer Pratibha Sharma and her family Jatin and her daughter Anvi lost their life in horrible Daylesford accident. May her family get strength and find peace and comfort. May their soul RIP,” the group said in a post on Facebook.

An aerial view of the scene of the crash, which occurred at the front beer garden at the Royal Daylesford Hotel, close to a roundabout.Credit: Joe Armao

Late on Monday police confirmed a 38-year-old Tarneit man and his 11-year-old son died instantly, while the man’s 36-year-old wife and six-year-old son were rushed to hospital with serious injuries.

The woman remained in the Royal Melbourne Hospital intensive care unit and the boy was in a stable condition at the Royal Children’s Hospital after suffering broken legs and internal injuries.

Sharma and her partner Jatin, both from Point Cook, died at the scene. Her daughter Anvi was taken to hospital where she later died.

Hotel patron Anthony Francis had been in the beer garden but went inside shortly before 6pm. Minutes later, he returned to be confronted by the tragic scene.

Francis, his voice shaking, said the tranquil setting had been transformed in an instant.

“There was a lot of blood, broken bones,” he said. “It looked pretty much like a war zone,” he said.

Remarkably another group of diners – which included an 11-month-old baby – survived the carnage. A 43-year-old Kyneton woman and a 38-year-old Cockatoo man are in hospital but stable. The baby is also recovering well after being taken to hospital with his 34-year-old mother who was not hurt.

The white BMW SUV’s driver spent a second night in hospital being treated for shock. He is not known to police, has no prior convictions and returned a negative alcohol reading at the scene.

Casualties of the Daylesford crash

Killed:

• A 44-year-old woman and her 30-year-old partner, both from Point Cook, died at the scene
• The woman’s nine-year-old daughter died in hospital
• A 38-year-old man from Tarneit and his 11-year-old son died instantly

Injured:

• A 43-year-old woman in a stable condition at the Royal Melbourne Hospital
• A 38-year-old man in a stable condition at the Royal Melbourne Hospital
• The 36-year-old wife of the 38-year-old man killed in the crash is in a serious condition and being treated in the ICU at the Royal Melbourne Hospital
• Their six-year-old son is in a stable condition after being flown to the Royal Children’s Hospital with leg fractures and internal injuries
• An 11-month-old boy in a stable condition at the Ballarat Base Hospital 

Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton remained circumspect on Monday about whether the driver was to blame, but said the scene was confronting, chaotic and distressing for first responders.

“You can’t train someone for that,” he said. “It’s one of the most confronting scenes, I am being told, that experienced officers have been to. It may haunt them forever.”

Investigators spent Sunday night and much of Monday trying to reconstruct the scene and collecting CCTV footage of the area.

“Many people will now be questioning the fragility of life and how it can be over so simply,” Patton said.

Five people were killed in Sunday’s crash.Credit: The Age

“It is an absolute tragedy what has occurred here. We will be doing everything we can to determine what has happened.”

More than a dozen bouquets were dropped at the base of a small statue near the hotel, with mourners and well-wishers wiping away tears and trying to absorb what happened.

Hundreds of locals gathered for a vigil on Monday night, with Daylesford CFA Captain Glenn Webster speaking of the profound admiration he had for his staff, who had responded to the injured and dead.

“I’m emotional because of what my team has been through,” he said, “The way it’s going to shatter the community, but I’m protective of them and I know some of them are shattered too.”

Witnesses described the moment the car left the road as it failed to negotiate a bend in Albert Street, a 50km/h zone, mounted the kerb and struck patrons sitting at picnic tables. Members of the public rushed to help the injured.

Kimmi Moscicki, 49, was seated across the road at the RSL, heard a loud bang as the SUV hit a light pole, lurched towards the roundabout and finally came to a stop.

“We heard the noise. We heard a bang, looked up, saw the car hit the pole,” she said. “It bounced, bounced and then stopped right there, and all the bodies hit the ground.”

Moscicki said the driver remained seated in his car, looking straight ahead and not reacting.

Floral tributes are laid at the crash scene on Monday.Credit: Joe Armao

“I saw people just trying to just react in emergency mode,” she said.

Hepburn Shire Mayor Brian Hood said the community would be absolutely devastated.

“This is completely out of the ordinary. So it’ll hit people hard, because it’s happened right in the middle of town at a very popular pub – very popular outdoor dining area for people.

“People are well and truly aware of the area and for something like that to happen so unexpectedly, it’ll have a severe impact on some people.”

He expressed concerns for the mental wellbeing of first responders and the local community.

“I feel for the first responders who ... had a very confronting scene to deal with. They did a brilliant job, of course, as did the council’s staff.”

Ambulance Victoria regional director Trevor Weston said local crews were among the first to respond and found venue patrons and the public trying to help the injured. He said the scene was confronting and chaotic.

“I can only imagine what the community would be feeling this morning ... a very close-knit community,” he said.

“Some of the initial crews responding were from Daylesford and of course, our thoughts are with them. You never want to respond to anything like this but certainly not in your home town.”

Jenna Acquarola and James Deriu, who were visiting from Melbourne’s northern suburbs, laid flowers at the scene on Monday.

They left the pub and returned for dinner, arriving five minutes after the incident unfolded.

“People that were first on the scene were traumatised ... they were beside themselves, and it didn’t happen to them, they were just watching it,” Deriu said.

Witnesses said the car hit a streetlight before mounting the kerb and crashing into the pub’s patrons.Credit: Joe Armao

Acquarola described eerie scenes in the popular town, which was bustling ahead of the Melbourne Cup public holiday.

“There were people everywhere ... standing around just everywhere. Everyone was quiet,” she said.

A healthcare worker who asked not to be named said she arrived at the scene to find a pair of children’s shoes strewn a long distance from one another.

“I also saw at least four phones on the road,” she said. “It was so real. So human.”

The damaged BMW SUV outside the pub on Sunday night.Credit: Nine

The head of road policing operations, Superintendent John Fitzpatrick, praised quick-acting onlookers who rushed to help after the crash unfolded.

“No one wants to see what has occurred here,” Fitzpatrick said.

“But it is amazing what people do when others are injured. From what I’ve been told, there were a lot of people who attended to those who have been injured and killed.

“Out of a terrible set of circumstances, people have really done the right thing and tried to help.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressed his condolences for the crash victims from Beijing, where he will meet the Chinese president on Monday.

“We are all shocked by what happened in Daylesford, and so deeply saddened – for those whose lives were so cruelly cut short, and for those who can never be the same again,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “The hearts of all Australians go out to everyone affected, including loved ones, friends, first responders and the Daylesford community.”

Ballarat MP Catherine King also expressed her condolences, saying: “Five people have lost their lives ... five families have had their lives changed forever … It will really have shocked a lot of people, and I think we’d really only just be coming to terms to what happened today.”

She said the beer garden would have been a busy scene before the crash, adding that it was set up post-COVID with picnic tables, chairs, and an ice-cream shop.

The scene outside the Royal Daylesford Hotel on Monday.Credit: Joe Armao

“It was a really warm night last night. We’ve got a long weekend in Melbourne with the Melbourne Cup, as well as a major tourism destination, [which] was pretty busy last night.”

The crash comes as Victoria’s road toll is at a 15-year-high. The first half of 2023 was the deadliest on the state’s roads in more than a decade and the equal deadliest of the past 18 years.

So far in 2023, 204 people have lost their lives on Victorian roads – a 16.7 per cent increase compared with the same time last year.

With Roy Ward, Benjamin Preiss and Caroline Schelle

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2023-11-06 08:19:19Z
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