A Mercedes driver has been charged with dangerous driving causing death after allegedly running a give way sign sparking a horror multi-car smash.
The death toll from the crash – which occurred about 2.30pm on Thursday near Strathmerton, just south of the Victoria-NSW border – has risen to five people, plus a dog.
Victoria Police had earlier clocked the white Mercedes sedan travelling 18km/h above the speed limit about 2km before it slammed into a Nissan Navara ute, which then spun into the path of a B-double truck.
The crash instantly killed the Nissan driver, a local woman in her 60s, her four international passengers – three women and a man all in their 20s – and a dog.
The crash was so bad disaster identification experts and search and rescue teams had to be called in to determine how many victims there were.
The Mercedes driver, a 29-year-old man, and his 29-year-old female passenger were taken to hospital for treatment for minor injuries.
Five people are dead after a horror crash between two cars and a B-double truck in northern Victoria on Thursday
The Nissan Navara was thrown into the path of the truck after being struck by the Mercedes
They have since been released and the man was taken into police custody.
He has been charged with five counts of dangerous driving causing death and will face Shepparton Magistrates’ Court on Friday.
Police said charges are expected to be laid and they will allege the 29-year-old man, from Melbourne, was driving along Labuan Road but ignored a give way sign when he reached the Murray Valley Hwy intersection.
While the circumstances of the crash are still under investigation, Assistant Commissioner of Road Policing Glen Weir said police believe the four international victims are from Asia and were in Australia working in the local farming industry.
At the time of the crash, the Navara driver was dropping her employees home after they spent the day working at her property, Assistant Commissioner Weir said.
Police from the major collision unit worked through the night to examine and investigate the cause of the crash.
Emergency services were called to an incident in Strathmerton, just south of the NSW border, about 2.30pm on Thursday with reports of a multi-car collision (pictured, map)
The crash took place at the intersection of Murray Valley Hwy and Labuan Rd (pictured)
Police and emergency services are pictures at the scene of the crash on Thursday
Assistant Commissioner Weir said dash camera footage of the crash was ‘horrific’ and the tragedy would ‘significantly impact’ the first responders, local community, and victims’ families overseas for a long time.
He said the truck driver was ‘absolutely devastated’ and was driving along and doing the right thing when his life ‘changed in a split second’.
The quintuple fatality is the most deadly car accident Victoria has experienced since 2012.
Assistant Commissioner Weir said there has been a significant rise in multiple-fatality crashes this year compared to 2022 on Victorian roads.
In an emotional plea, he urged drivers to heed road rules to stay safe especially as more people hit the road ahead of the weekend and Anzac Day.
‘Today a lot of people will take the opportunity to travel and perhaps enjoy a day off on Monday and Tuesday as a public holiday. But the people who won’t travel are these people who are dead,’ he said.
‘So when the all the tape is taken down, all the cars are towed away, and everything is cleaned up and everyone will move on, it is quite easy for the crash to be something that happened the other week, the other month, or last year.
‘But we can’t let it stop at that. It is time for people to wake up.
‘I don’t know what more we can do to try and appeal to people to take care.’
Assistant Commissioner Glen Weir said there has been a significant rise in multiple-fatality car crashes this year on Victorian roads
