Families of two young tourists in shock after their bodies were found in North-East river
Police have revealed details of the tragic accident in which two young interstate tourists were killed. The details.
Tasmania
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Two young tourists, whose bodies were found in a remote Tasmanian river, may have died days before they were found, police have told their “devastated” families.
Inspector Luke Manhood of St Helen’s police said the hire car used by Leannedra Kang, 24, and Takahiro Toya, 26, who were visiting from Brisbane, was found upside down in the Great Musselroe River about 5.30pm on Friday.
“On further inspection of the vehicle by police and SES members, unfortunately we located the bodies of two people who we believe to be the missing people,” he said.
“They were not in the vehicle but they were nearby in the river.
“One of the bodies was right next to the vehicle and the other one was probably about 20 metres downstream so we presume has been carried down there by the current.”
Inspector Manhood said it was possible other motorists had driven along Tebrakunna Road, 10km east of Pioneer, and not seen the submerged car, which was “tucked underneath the bridge a little bit”.
“So at this stage we believe that the crash has occurred on Tuesday afternoon, and we didn’t find the vehicle until about 5.30 yesterday afternoon,” he said.
“The families are absolutely devastated.
“Obviously, this is a young couple that should have had the rest of their lives ahead of them.
“They’ve been cut short and the family are very upset.
“I’ve spoken to the sister of one of the deceased today and I spoke to the father of the other deceased by video conference in Japan. They’re both in a bit of state of shock at the moment.
“It’s a tragically another road crash that’s claimed lives.
“What’s caused the crash we don’t know at this stage and that will be part of our investigation.”
Inspector Manhood said it was yet to be determined if the young couple were wearing seatbelts because the car was “upside down in the water”.
“So we’ve got a lot of inquiries and analysis ongoing.
“We had police divers come and assist with the recovery efforts. They inspected the vehicle as part of that recovery and we’re waiting on information to come back from them
“At this stage it’s too early to determine what the cause of death was but likely they’ve died on the impact of the vehicle leaving the road the river where they’ve fallen to is several meters below the bridge.”
Investigations would, he said, be hampered by the fact it was a dirt road and there had been rain in recent days.
“It’s a forestry road that they were on that is sort of between St Helens and Pioneer,” Inspector Manhood said.
“It is not the most commonly travelled route.
“Little Blue Lake is a common tourist destination for people in that end of the state and the route that they had taken is not an unusual one if people were going to that destination from St Helens.”
Police divers and a crane were used in the recovery efforts.
The family raised the alarm with Queensland Police when they did not return to Brisbane on Wednesday night as scheduled.
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Originally published as Families of two young tourists in shock after their bodies were found in North-East river
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