Scone fatal: Boy, 5, sole survivor in Hunter Valley crash

UPDATE: THE horrendous details of the Hunter Valley crash — which left a five-year-old boy without his dad and grandad, and killed real estate agent Adam O’Regan (pictured) — have emerged.

THE car in which three people were killed yesterday and a five-year-old boy injured is believed to have plunged 200m off a “cliff” from the track it was on before coming to a rest.

Neighbours said recent heavy rain had made the hilly terrain dangerous, particularly for anyone not familiar with its narrow tracks.

“It was pretty bad yesterday,” one neighbour, who asked only to be known as Bill, said.

He and wife Anne owned the property where the crash occurred before subdividing and selling it to a Sydney buyer years ago.

The wrecked 4WD the four were in when the accident occurred. Picture: 9 News Sydney/Twitter

He said the rain meant many tracks in the area were covered with new grass, which became treacherously slippery in the wet.

“It’s bloody steep up there and when the grass is so green, you can’t get any traction,” he said.

Bill, who was one of the first on the scene after the wreck was discovered, estimated it was more than 200m down from the track to where the 4WD came to rest.

Tracks in the area are so difficult to traverse that a police 4WD became bogged close to the crash scene this morning, requiring a tractor to haul it to safety.

It is understood one of the reasons it took so long for the alarm to be raised yesterday is that it was assumed the 4WD that crashed had simply become bogged.

But after it became clear that the party had not walked out, concerns were raised about their welfare.

One of three men killed in a horror crash on a private property in the Upper Hunter yesterday was respected local real estate agent Adam O’Regan.

Real estate agent Adam O'Regan died in the horror crash.

It is understood Mr O’Regan was showing the other two men and a five-year-old boy around the property, outside Gundy, when the 4WD ran down a steep embankment.

The boy was found hours later at the scene with a broken arm while the three other men, including his father and grandfather, died at the scene after being ejected from the vehicle.

The boy’s family told Channel Seven today: “Yesterday our family suddenly lost a father and a grandfather.

“Our son, who thankfully sustained non-life threatening injuries, is understandably shaken and it is our family’s number one priority to be there and care for him as he recovers.”

Rescuers described the embankment where the vehicle was found as a cliff. Police were unable to confirm how far the car went down the embankment.

The crash is believed to have occurred sometime on Monday morning while the boy, his father, aged in his 40s from Sydney, and his grandfather, aged in his 70s from Brisbane, along with Mr O’Regan, were inspecting the Waverley Rd lot.

A police car leaves the idyllic property on which three men lost their lives when the car they were in was involved in an accident.

Mr O’Regan had been an estate agent for 14 years in Sydney and in rural NSW, and was a director of the residential and rural business of Landmark Harcourts in Scone.

A profile on his company’s website says Mr O’Regan was involved in a number of community organisations, including the local rugby, polo and pony clubs, and the Aberdeen Campdraft.

Mr O’Regan is the son of renowned Narrabri politician Bevan O’Regan, who retired in August after 34 years on the Narrabri Shire Council.

Police vehicles block the entrance to the property on which the accident occurred. Picture: Peter Lorimer

After concerns were raised by family members when the group did not return, a neighbouring landowner came across the tragic scene with the young boy found only metres from his dead father and grandfather.

Two Westpac Rescue Helicopters were dispatched from Newcastle and Tamworth, with the Tamworth chopper arriving first to find there was nothing they could do for the men. The second helicopter was then called off.

The crash occurred in the NSW Hunter Valley.

Paramedics could only access the remote site by quad bikes.

The boy was flown to Scone Hospital before he was taken to John Hunter Hospital, in Newcastle, by ambulance.

He is in a stable condition.

A report will be prepared for the Coroner.

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