Elderly Inverloch man dies after being hit by van near FoodWorks car park
“We’ve lost a community member — it’s just awful”: Inverloch is mourning the loss of an 85-year-old man who died after being hit by a van in the seaside town.
Bass Coast News
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An elderly man has died after he was hit and dragged by a van in the state’s southeast.
Emergency services were called to the scene at the FoodWorks car park on Reilly St at 10.15am in Inverloch on Wednesday November 15.
Major Collision Unit Detective Acting Sergeant Leigh Miller said the 84-year-old female driver was leaving the car park and had an incident in her Toyota Hiace.
“She’s reversed into a shopping trolley — looks like she’s probably panicked and accelerated forward into another vehicle (a blue Mazda three) where an 85-year-old gentleman who was putting his groceries in the boot of his car hadn’t moved away and her car has accelerated into his and he’s been struck by the car,” Sgt Miller said.
“Tragically, he died at the scene and that lady was obviously very distraught as well.”
Sgt Miller said it was a busy time of the morning and the car park was full.
“Anytime in a car park is going to be busy,” he said.
“Basically what we’ve had to do is lock the scene down and move all the people out — we don’t want people to witness events they don’t need to see — we offer people welfare.
“We just secure the scene and then we do our investigation as we would normally run at a scene.”
Sgt Miller said after the driver hit the man, her vehicle went over the median strip that separates the road from the car park.
“She’s probably got her foot on the accelerator at this stage, she’s gone over the median strip, she’s hit that blue car which was parked unoccupied and sustained a small amount of damage,” he said.
“Her vehicle continued out into Reilly St where she then stopped and pulled over to a controlled stop and people ran to assist her as well as the male who suffered catastrophic injuries.”
Sgt Miller said the man and woman were from the Bass Coast area but was unsure whether the pair were known to each other.
“They were both out doing their shopping today and a tragic incident has occurred and sadly he’s died,” he said.
Sgt Miller added detectives continue taking photos, collecting data and the investigation will last longer than one day.
“I anticipate we will be here for several hours,” he said.
Frankston man Dylan Brooker came down to Inverloch for a holiday to celebrate his daughter’s birthday when he saw the crime scene opposite the Inverloch Skatepark.
“Unfortunately we’ve witnessed a poor old elderly person get struck by a car,” Mr Brooker said.
The 35-year-old described the scene as tragic.
“When we arrived the police were bordering off all the traffic and putting up the blue tarp to cover up the poor old elderly person who’s been struck by the car,” Mr Brooker said.
“It’s a horrible thing to see when you’re here with your family.
“You wouldn’t think of this to happen around here, but it can happen anywhere.”
He urged people and road users to be alert.
“As they say — on a quiet suburban road — you never know what will happen unfortunately.”
Reilly St was closed and sealed off and traffic was redirected on Wednesday afternoon.
FoodWorks remained open for people to access while the investigation continued.
Reilly St was reopened after 7pm.
Locals across Inverloch were hit with sadness on Thursday.
FoodWorks store manager Brendan O’Leary said he knew the man who had been shopping at FoodWorks for a few years.
Mr O’Leary said the man knew a lot of the senior staff on the registers.
“He enjoyed coming down and seeing the different staff here,” he said.
“It’s just very tragic what’s happened, quite shocking for a lot of the staff here yesterday.
“We want to give our condolences to his wife and family.”
Paul the Pieman Bakeries production manager Mitch Woods said he saw police out the front of FoodWorks on the day of the crash.
“We heard the news — and we heard there was a death and it was really sad and pretty distressing,” Mr Woods said.
“It’s just down the road from where we are — and we were just about to send someone to the supermarket when it all happened and we decided not to.
“And then we had people come in and tell us about the guy who passed away and said how much of a community member he was.
“We’ve lost a community member — it’s just awful.”
Mr Woods urged people and road users to look out for others, especially leading up to the busy summer and Christmas period.
“Look out for people and try not to speed around and people can be in a rush, especially that time of the year,” he said.
“But you know, take your time and look out for people — you don’t want another incident like this.”
A business owner and onlooker said the incident “shook” the whole town.
The business owner added the man was well-known in the community.
The Herald Sun understands the 84-year-old driver is in hospital and the man’s wife witnessed the incident.
It brings the state road death toll to 258, compared to 213 at the same time last year.
Anyone who witnessed the incident, has dashcam/CCTV footage of a man walking near the road or with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, log onto www.crimestoppers.com.au or contact the Inverloch police station on (03) 5674 1202.
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