Rishabh Verma: Blacktown man identified as M7 crash victim

A 20-year-old man killed in a truck crash on the M7 has been identified as an Indian national living in Australia on a student visa. His heartbroken friends are now trying to raise money to send his body back home.

Friends of an Indian national killed in a highway crash this week are scrambling to raise thousands of dollars to return him home as his immediate family remains trapped, unable to help from the subcontinent.

The death of Rishabh Verma on Wednesday has left his friends in western Sydney shocked and heartbroken as they come to terms with the tragedy.

Mr Verma, just 20, died after he was pinned inside the cabin of his Mitsubishi truck that slammed into another one on the M7 at Casula in peak morning rush hour traffic.

His former employer Avinashi Singh was the first person to get the call from police.

Rishabh Verma, 20, is being remembered as a kind-hearted student with the world at his feet.

Mr Verma had only started a new job four weeks ago but still worked for Mr Singh on the weekend.

He arrived in Australia on a student visa in November 2019 and was enjoying life Down Under before the horror crash.

“He was a good guy he worked for me for me for about one and-a-half years,” Mr Singh said.

“People are supporting him because he was so nice.

“It’s hard to believe he’s dead and that he is not here with us anymore.”

While Mr Verma has some relatives in Marsden Park his father, mother and sister remain in India, locked out of Australia after the government moved on Friday to make it a criminal offence to fly in from the country.

Mr Verma was starting to build a life for himself in Australia, working and studying after arriving on a student visa in November 2019.

Without his direct next of kin in the country sending him home had become more difficult.

“It’s very hard for his mother and father because they want the body to be back there (India), that’s their first preference,” Mr Singh said.

“They’re asking for the body to be transferred back to India.

“Nothing can fulfil the loss we have had so we’re trying to help financially to send the body back home.”

Rishabh, a bubbly part-time student, was just starting to find his feet in Australia, enjoyed the gym and watching Netflix, according to his friends.

Mr Verma’s immediate family live in India and his friend’s are now concerned about sending their mate home.

His close knit group of mates had just enjoyed a trip to the Hunter region for his birthday earlier this year.

“He was just a very good person,” Mr Singh recalled.

“He was kind-hearted, he would always say yes to anything.

“We only just celebrated his birthday on the 1st of January, we went for a trip to Newcastle as a group and stayed there for a few days.”

Mr Verma’s friends are raising money to help support his family in India and have already raised a stunning $35,000 at the time of print, less than a 24 hours after the campaign went live.

His college, Trinity Institute Australia, has pledged to help his family in any way possible and have themselves have donated $2100 to the cause.

You can donate to the campaign here.