Jim and Carmel Madden killed as truck smashes into Tower Hill home
A husband and wife dairy farmer team have been tragically killed after a truck ploughed into their front bedroom.
Geelong
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Two people have died after a truck smashed through a house along the Princes Highway on Victoria’s southwest coast.
The Herald Sun has been told the truck was travelling east towards Warrnambool when it veered onto the wrong side of a highway, through a paddock and into the front bedroom of a Tower Hill home just after 7am Friday.
The occupants of the home — Jim and Carmel Madden — died at the scene.
Family members said they were “too shocked to talk” when contacted by the Herald Sun but it’s understood the couple were well known in the area.
The pair were well known in the region, selling Angus and Friesian cattle at the nearby Warrnambool Sales Yards before they closed in 2023.
Mr Madden’s family had been in farming for decades.
On the day he was born, his parents bought part of what would become the family farm for the next 75 years.
For about 50 years from the purchase in the 1940s, the family ran it as an agricultural property.
“We grew potatoes and onions until the mid-90s, but it was exclusively dairying after that,” Mr Madden told the Weekly Times in 2016.
He and Mrs Madden ran 300 Friesian cows on a self-contained basis, with young and dry stock, and fodder retained on-property, producing up to two million litres of milk.
Closely connected to the region, Mr Madden was the president of the Koroit Lions and Mrs Madden had previously been the president of the Koroit Probus Club.
The Koroit Lions donation shop was shut on Friday, with a sign taped over the front saying it was “closed due to unforeseen circumstances”.
It’s expected to be closed on Saturday too.
Mr Madden was also a successful racehorse trainer in Warrnambool.
In 2017, his horse Siddle’s Birthday won the The Midfield Group BM64 Handicap at the Warrnambool Racecourse.
He has also trained Sevenia — his first winner back in 2008 — as well as War Na Bool and Rutledges Cutting.
The male truck driver — a 70-year-old Portland man who was alone in the vehicle — was taken to the nearby Warrnambool Base Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The highway in that area has a 100km/h limit.
Major Collision Investigation Unit detectives rushed to the scene and investigations remain ongoing.
Emergency services will have to wear specialised personal protective equipment as the house has been contaminated with asbestos.
Light traffic was on Friday morning being diverted from the Princes Hwy, with cars being sent down Surrey Lane and Gormans and Rocks roads.
Heavy vehicles, including trucks, were being allowed through on the highway.
Powercor is also enroute to the property as it’s understood powerlines were dislodged by the truck.
There are no wider power outages at this stage.
Tower Hill is a small town just to the west of Warrnambool and about three hours west of Melbourne.
It has a population of about 80, with 30 private dwellings.
There is a large wildlife reserve with walks and a visitors centre from a viewing point on top of Tower Hill.
Anyone who witnessed the incident, has CCTV, dashcam footage or any other information that could assist police is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online.
Originally published as Jim and Carmel Madden killed as truck smashes into Tower Hill home
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