Unimaginable task facing families of five teens killed in Buxton crash

An unimaginable task now faces the families of the five teenage victims of a horrific crash in Buxton on Tuesday night.

4 min read

September 8, 2022 - 12:16PM

An unimaginable task faces the families of the five victims of a horrific crash in Buxton, as the grieving relatives are forced to formally identify the deceased.

They lost their loved ones on Tuesday night after a Nissan Navara ute carrying six people left the road and smashed into a tree in the small community southwest of Sydney.

The impact killed all five passengers – three girls, aged between 14 and 15, and two boys, aged 15 and 16.

The 18-year-old driver and sole survivor, Tyrell Edwards, has been charged with five counts of dangerous driving occasioning death.

Legal restrictions prevent news.com.au from identifying the teenage victims following the charges that were laid on Wednesday night.

Pictured on East Parade at Buxton in south west Sydney, are two girls laying floral tributes at the site of the accident. Picture: Richard Dobson

And, while detectives are confident they know who the victims are, it is a formality that a family member or friend attends the Lidcombe’s Forensic Medicine and Coroner’s Complex to visually identify the deceased.

In a further tragic twist it has now been revealed that two of the teens who died in the crash were boyfriend and girlfriend, according to the Daily Mail.

Tyrell Edwards has been charged following the crash. Picture: Facebook

All of the victims were students at Picton High School, with a friend telling the publication that two in the group were in a relationship and had the same math class at school.

The couple both died at the scene of the crash.

The friend said one of the pair was the “nicest” person who “wanted to do so much with his life” and was very into body building.

His girlfriend was reportedly best friends with the other female victim, who he said was “nice to everyone at school”.

Picton High School has been offering counselling services to students and staff in the wake of the unspeakable tragedy

Deputy Secretary for the NSW Department of Education, Murat Dizdar, described the situation as “extremely distressing and disturbing”, revealing the victims of the crash had been at Picton High School since Year 7.

“As the community in NSW would appreciate, it’s a deeply distressing phone call to get from NSW Police, where we find out over night that we’ve lost five young learners,” he said on Wednesday.

Tributes have been left at the site of the crash. Picture: Julian Andrews

Victims were ‘still wearing their uniforms’

A woman who was one of the first people to arrive on the scene after the crash has recounted the horror of what she and her teenage sons witnessed.

Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, the woman, who did not wish to be named, said they rushed to the intersection of East Road and Orange Road after hearing the crash.

Having a background in nursing, the woman immediately began trying CPR on the victims but they were unable to be saved.

“They were all still wearing their school uniforms,” she said.

She revealed she had never seen a scene “as bad as this” and had trouble identifying how many people were involved in the crash due to the severity of the situation.

Mr Edwards was reportedly screaming for help when witnesses arrived on the scene, but managed to pull himself from the wreckage.

Confronting images showed what was left of the vehicle following the crash, with twisted metal strewn around the area.

A tow truck driver is seen removing the remains of the car. Picture: NCA Newswire/Gaye Gerard

Twisted metal was strewn across the scene. Picture: John Grainger

Camden Police Superintendent Paul Fuller the media it was one of the worst crash scenes he had seen the almost four decades he had been on the police force.

“It’s a horrific accident scene and a traumatic event like this will have a devastating impact on the families, friends and the local community,” he said on Tuesday night.

The father of one of the 14-year-old girls who died in the crash told The Daily Telegraph of a haunting five-word test message she sent him that night.

“Dad, can I go out tonight?” the 14-year-old asked.

“The answer would have been no, it was a school night, but I never got the text,” the father said. He didn’t receive it because he was in hospital at the time.

Speed a ‘possible factor’ in crash

On Wednesday, Acting Inspector Jason Hogan said preliminary investigations indicate speed as a “possible factor” in the horrific crash.

“The scene was extremely traumatic and the circumstances surrounding the damage will be investigated by our vehicle examiners,” he said.

“The scene will be interpreted by crash investigation unit and our forensic team to reconstruct what we can of the crash.”

Acting Inspector Hogan said “having six people in a four-seater vehicle is inherently dangerous and it should not be done”.

Why there were six people in the car and how many seatbelts were being worn will form part of the police investigation.

The Buxton community has been left devastated by the tragedy. Picture: John Grainger

Locals have been leaving flowers at the site of the crash. Picture: John Feder/The Australian.

Mr Edwards was treated by paramedics at the scene before being taken to Liverpool Hospital with non life-threatening injuries.

A breathalyser test at the scene returned a negative result and he underwent mandatory blood and urine testing at the hospital, with police saying the results of the tests likely won’t be revealed for some weeks.

The 18-year-old was released into the care of his mother on Wednesday morning, with police arresting him just a few hours later at 1.50pm in Bargo.

Officers took him to Narellan Police Station, where he was assisting with inquiries.

“After the man was released from hospital, he was arrested in Bargo and taken to Narrellan Police Station where he was charged with five counts of dangerous driving occasioning death – drive manner dangerous,” police said in a statement on Wednesday night.