Five members of an Aussie-Indian family, including two children, have died in a horrific accident on a freeway in India on Sunday.
Anamika Dutta, 45, her daughters Pipasa, 15, Neetika, 12, her son Tirvijai, 20, and her sister Sonia, 25, were killed when the wheel of their SUV burst as they were travelling along the Yamuna Expressway in Uttar Pradesh on their way to a picnic, according to local police.
The SUV was sent careening out of control into a safety barrier, then a road divider, flipping upside down and landing on the opposite side of the expressway.
Residents of a nearby village tried to help the family, but the two women and two girls died at the scene. Tirvijai was taken to Mathura Hospital where he died a short time later, police said.
Rupendra Dutta, Anamika’s husband and father of the three children, was also in the car and remains in hospital.
His father-in-law, N K Paliwal, and the driver of the SUV were also hospitalised and were being treated for injuries sustained in the crash.
Rupendra Dutta, originally from Delhi, runs a restaurant in Adelaide and was holidaying with his family in India at the time of the accident.
“He was on picnic to Agra with his wife, two daughters, son, sister-in-law and father-in-law, when the tragic incident took place“, a local told Indian news site NDTV.
Police spokesperson Narendar Singh told the Times of India that the accident took place around 3.30pm “due to a tyre burst”.
The Department of Foreign Affairs at Trade confirmed the deaths on Monday night, local time.
“DFAT is providing consular assistance in accordance with the Consular Services Charter to members of a family of Australians who passed away following a traffic accident in Uttar Pradesh, India,” a spokeswoman said in a statement.
“Due to privacy obligations, we are unable to provide any further comment,” the spokeswoman said.
The bodies have been sent for post mortems.
Almost 2598 accidents and 38 deaths have occurred on the Yamuna Expressway between 9 August, 2012 and 30 September 2015, according to Indian government figures.
Family were due back in Adelaide
Close family friend, Anand Bhatia, said he was still in shock over the news and that the family had been due to return to Adelaide this weekend.
“My whole family is in shock,” he said. “I still can’t believe it happened to them.
“They are a very nice family; they were a very loving family.”
Mr Bhatia said he had spoken to the hospital where Mr Datta was first taken, but he has since been transferred to Fortis Hospital in Delhi.
Mr Bhatia believed Mr Datta had suffered critical spinal injuries.
He believed a third person, the driver of the SUV, was also taken to hospital with injuries.
ABC/AAP