Seven killed in horror crash_英文原版

a man was last night mourning the deaths of his father and the mother of his two-year-old child, two of seven people killed in a horror smash on a country road yesterday.

a group of five in a car and two people in a truck died on impact before being engulfed in flames in the crash about 12.40pm yesterday near the victorian town of donald.

those killed in the car were max purdue, 38, his close friend danny kelly, 38, mr kelly's two young children, natalie, 7, and gavin, 8, and mandy niblett, 17.

ms niblett is the partner of mr purdue's son mick.

mick purdue, from horsham, southwest of donald, last night said that he was devastated at the loss of his father and ms niblett, the mother of his two-year-old daughter mia.

"she (ms niblett) was only 17 and mia is two. i can't believe it," he said.

"(my father) was such a fun-loving guy, such a good bloke.

"he had little money but if he had money he'd give it to you."

mr kelly from balranald on the banks of the murrumbidgee river in nsw's southwest, had recently separated from the mother of his two children, elvie jackson.

ms jackson was taken to hospital after being told the news last night.

"they were going on a family holiday," said mr kelly's uncle, dan senior.

"the kids were beautiful. they were so respectful, they were never cheeky, they were just adorable.

"the old fella, gavin, he was always behind his dad.

"the little girl natalie, she was more a tomboy, beautiful big eyes, looking and smiling. she was more outgoing then her brother. she had spark."

veteran accident investigator inspector jeff smith was shocked by what he saw 5km from donald, 300km northwest of melbourne.

"i have seen some pretty terrible things in my career and this is right up there," insp smith said.

"it is the sort of stuff nightmares are made of. that is a really high impact, non-survivable impact."

insp smith said it appeared the car had not given way, driving south through an intersection and into the path of the truck.

the crash is the worst single road disaster in victoria since a massive bus smash near wangaratta claimed 10 lives in 1993.

locals said the intersection, where the borung highway meets the donald-swan hill rd, was an accident waiting to happen.

local bushfire volunteer adam campbell said he saw smoke as he drove home from donald.

"when i arrived it was just a ball of flames," mr campbell said.

"i rang home and made sure my wife was home. it was just a mangled mess.

"i didn't think there was much hope (of anyone surviving) when i got there. it was horrific."

mr campbell said there had been a number of near misses at the intersection and a neighbour claimed he had been waiting for years for a major collision.

"one road is a highway and the other has as much traffic as a highway. it has a give-way sign but it's a straight road and drivers just keep going," mr campbell said.