NT road deaths: Man who allegedly ran from fatal Kirkland Rd crash identified as Christian Mpongo
Police are searching for a man with a significant history of driving offences after a fatal crash, the second in days, devastated the Top End. LATEST.
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Police are searching for a man with a significant history of driving offences after a fatal crash, the second in days, devastated the Top End.
The man, who ran from the scene of the crash on Kirkland Road about 5pm on Friday May 16, has been identified by The Australian as Christian Mpongo.
Mr Mpongo was allegedly behind the wheel and sole occupant of a car that collided head-on with another car, which was carrying three passengers.
A man, aged 36, was killed in the collision, and the other two passengers, aged 80 and 35, were injured.
NT Police were called to the incident after 5pm, with Kirkland Road closed in both directions.
The crash occurred near the railway tracks in the vicinity of the Woodlake Boulevard intersection at Durack.
At the time, police said a man who had been the sole occupant of the other vehicle had run from the scene towards the Durack golf course and a search commenced.
An initial description of the man was that he was dark skinned, wearing a purple shirt, light shorts and a dark coloured cast on his left arm – but NT Police did not provide any additional details to aid his discovery.
The Australian has reported that Mr Mpongo, who is not facing current charges, has a lengthy history for driving offences between 2017 and 2023.
Previously Mr Mpongo attended court on charges of high, medium and low-range drink driving offences, driving motor vehicle unsafe to drive, driving without due care, and driving unlicensed.
Unrelated to his traffic history, The Australian reported Mr Mpongo last appeared in court back in August 2024 for threatening to kill a person, counts of trespass, contravening a DVO, aggravated assault and breach of bail.
Friday’s crash occurred nearby where a near-identical fatal crash occurred on May 14, in which one woman died.
In that crash, which involved a Nissan X-TRAIL and Toyota Corolla, three other people were seriously injured.
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Originally published as NT road deaths: Man who allegedly ran from fatal Kirkland Rd crash identified as Christian Mpongo
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