Police probe if Katrina Prahastono’s phone use caused deadly crash

Katrina Prahastono was talking to a friend on her phone when she missed a turnoff, police believe, seeing her make the fatal manoeuvre which killed her and her two young children.

A mother killed in an horrific car crash at Menangle Park was chatting on speaker phone to a friend and missed her turn off, forcing her to make an unexpected and fatal manoeuvre into the path of a cement truck.

Katrina Prahastono, 34, and her two children Kai, 2, and Ivy, three-months, died when their Mazda SUV lost control on the Hume Motorway on February 13 and collided with a truck.

A relative of Mrs Prahastono told The Daily Telegraph the mother-of-two simply ‘got distracted’ while speaking on the phone to a friend while she was driving home, and made a turn at an unfamiliar section of road.

“The friend she was speaking to has told police...Kat said to her “Oh no, I’ve missed my turn, now I’ll have to try and turn around somewhere”,” the relative said.

“She had been to a playgroup earlier in the morning, and then she was getting ready Saturday (when daughter Ivy’s religious celebration was due to be held).”

Police are investigating if Katrina Prahastono, pictured with husband Ian and children Kai, 2, and Ivy, three-months, suffered a medical episode which caused her to crash at Menangle Park.

NSW Police said they were probing whether Mrs Prahastono was legally on the phone at the time of the crash, or shortly beforehand, and if that contributed to the crash.

Former journalist Steve Barrett was travelling north behind the cement truck and saw Mrs Prahastono’s southbound car veer through an opening in the cement safety barrier, and cross to the other side of the motorway, just before 11.30am.

A woman and a child have died following a two-vehicle crash at Menangle Park in Sydney's south-west. Picture: Twitter

“About a second before the collision, I saw the cement truck jolt left in an attempt to avoid the collision, but it was too late,” Mr Barrett said.

Mr Barrett said the car appeared to be travelling too fast to perform a U-turn, and questioned whether there was a distraction inside the vehicle.

While Mr Barrett rang Triple-0 for help, he said other motorists worked valiantly to save the life of baby Ivy, the only occupant to be pulled alive from the wreckage.

“As tragic as it was, I’d like the dead woman’s husband to know people tried their very best to save his family. I felt sorry for the truck driver who was in shock,” Mr Barrett said.

Ian Prahastono breaks down after buring his wife and two children on Friday. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Another witness who was behind the SUV has told police she saw the car “wobble” in the lane before it crossed through the safety barrier.

Hours after his wife and children were buried on Friday, Ian Prahastono posted a heartbreaking tribute to the three people who were his “entire world”.

“My strong-willed, beautiful baby girl, Ivy Kaia Prahastono fought so hard to stay with me but ultimately chose to be with her mama,” Mr Prahastono said. “As hard as this is to accept, I do take comfort knowing that she will be in the perfect hands of her mother and with the warm company of her big brother.”

“I don’t think I could ever put into words the pain I feel from losing my whole world ... As Katrina always said to me “with every hardship there will come ease” and I will take her words to the heart.”

NSW police crash investigators are preparing a report for the coroner, but have appealed for any other witnesses or anyone with dashcam footage of the crash to come forward.