Colombian Leidy Rincon named as dead airport tunnel crash victim

The family of a 29-year-old Colombian woman killed in a head-on crash near Sydney Airport yesterday have set up a fundraising page to help bring her body home so they can say a last goodbye.

A 29-year-old Colombian woman has been identified as the passenger killed in a head-on crash in Sydney on Thursday morning.

Leidy Rincon was one of four women travelling to work through the Sydney Airport tunnel on General Holmes Drive, Mascot, when they collided with another vehicle that had crossed onto the wrong side of the road.

Three other women carpooling with Ms Rincon in their Honda CRV were injured during the crash about 5:40am.

Leidy Rincon, 29, died in yesterday’s crash.

A GoFundMe page has been set up by the Colombian community in Sydney – which has raised nearly $5000 – to help “bring her body back home”.

“The repatriation process is quite expensive and complicated for a family that is suffering such a great pain,” Sarah Ochica said.

“Any contribution you can make, any donation would help a lot to which Leidy’s family can give you one last goodbye.”

Maria Avenda said news of her friend’s death had been “painful” and sent shockwaves to the community.

One woman died and three others inside a Honda were injured in the crash. Picture: TNV

“One goes to another country with a purpose of overcoming and to learn and now a friend will no longer accompany us anymore,” Ms Avenda said.

“ I will always remember that short but beautiful friendship we made and I wait for her in Colombia.”

A 34-year-old man behind the wheel of the white Ford Falcon that crossed onto the wrong side of the road was critically injured and underwent surgery on Thursday.

NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Michael Corboy said there wasn’t much the Honda driver could do to avoid the crash.

The crash was described by emergency crews as “bedlam”. Picture: TNV

“It was very unfortunate, and any fatality is a tragedy,” he said.

“At this stage we’re looking into the reasons why the Ford went from the southbound lane into the northbound lane and collided with the other vehicle.

“We’re very interested in investigating how that happened.”

Assistant Commissioner Corboy also thanked an off-duty nurse and police officer who assisted until emergency crews arrived.

“(The crash) was a particularly bad scene, having that many people injured in one crash put a lot of pressure on emergency services,” he said.

Traffic backed up on Sydney's M5 after one person died and three were seriously injured in a crash, blocking the airport tunnel on General Holmes Drive. Picture: Nicholas Gray

“We were very lucky to have an off-duty nurse and off-duty police officer who assisted with CPR on the victims. We really appreciate their help.”

Up to ten NSW Ambulance crews, including a specialist medical team, attended the scene which was described as “bedlam.”

“This is an absolutely horrendous crash. As you can imagine, when paramedics arrived on scene it was absolute bedlam,” NSW Ambulance Inspector Kath Rallings said.

“There were several patients in serious conditions and traffic backed up.”

Standstill … Traffic in the M5 tunnel at 9am on Thursday following the crash.

Bumper-to-bumper traffic gridlocked all directions around the airport with westbound lanes backed up by at least 7km as crash investigators attended the scene.

Surrounding streets were also affected as authorities worked to clean-up the crash and public transport was also delayed by up to 40 minutes in Mascot.

Police are appealing for further witnesses and anyone who has dashcam footage of the crash in addition to tunnel CCTV seized by investigators.