Tributes flow for son, brother killed in crash

A Maryborough family is in mourning after an 18-year-old man was killed in a head-on crash in the Darling Downs. Another Fraser Coast man was killed near Gympie.

A Maryborough family is in mourning after an 18 year old man was killed in a head-on crash in the Darling Downs on Monday.

Lachlan Lethbridge died at the scene when the ute he was driving collided with a truck which was headed east on the Gore Highway at Southbrook.

He was one of two people from the Fraser Coast killed in separate accidents on Monday.

The other was much loved father and grandfather John Hartley, 86, from Scarness who was killed when he was driving on the Bruce Highway at Kybong on Monday. The crash saw the highway closed for hours.

In the Toowoomba region crash, the driver of the truck, a 26-year-old New South Wales man, was taken to the Toowoomba Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Investigations into the crash are continuing.

In a heartbreaking statement to the Chronicle, Lachlan’s parents, Bob and Cathy Lethbridge, said he was a “gorgeous young man”.

Maryborough's Lachlan Lethbridge, 18, was killed in a crash when his ute collided with a truck in the Darling Downs on Monday morning.

“Loyal, principled, fun, honest, cheeky, lit up the lives of others.

“The world is a better place for having had Lachie in it.

“We are so proud of his accomplishments in the short time he had.”

In a moving tribute on Facebook, his sister Lindsy said the loss of her brother didn’t feel real yet.

“I’m so sorry you never got to experience life,” she wrote.

“I can’t even believe this has happened.

“We’re all so proud of everything you got to achieve and we love you so, so much.”

Originally published as Tributes flow for son, brother killed in crash