`I just don't know how it happened': [1 All-round Country Edition]
Daniel Hoare, John Stapleton. The Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 22 June 2004: 3.
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[Kerry], who was driving when she witnessed the accident, was recalling the horror of the previous night when 17-year-old learner driver Brooke Ervin lost control of the family car on the wet road before swerving into an oncoming truck on the Midland Highway, near Castlemaine in central Victoria.
Brooke, her father Richard, 45, mother [Anne Ervin], 46, sister Jade, 14, and French exchange student Elisabeth Chambon, 15, were killed instantly when their V8 Holden Commodore sedan veered into the three- tonne truck.
"I JUST had to come back," said Kerry, wiping tears from her face as she stood over the wet grass where a single bunch of flowers lay as a roadside tribute to five lost lives.
"I just don't know how it happened," she whispered in a shaky voice.
Kerry, who was driving when she witnessed the accident, was recalling the horror of the previous night when 17-year-old learner driver Brooke Ervin lost control of the family car on the wet road before swerving into an oncoming truck on the Midland Highway, near Castlemaine in central Victoria.
Brooke, her father Richard, 45, mother Anne, 46, sister Jade, 14, and French exchange student Elisabeth Chambon, 15, were killed instantly when their V8 Holden Commodore sedan veered into the three- tonne truck.
The driver of the truck was the only one spared, suffering a broken arm.
Anne Ervin's brothers, Gerard and Peter Fitzpatrick, fighting back tears, fronted the media yesterday, paying tribute to the victims on behalf of the extended family.
"They knew so many people, they were involved in sport, they were involved in all sorts of organisations," Gerard said.
"They were very successful business people, it's just horrific. This is going to hit so many people in Bendigo. They were very popular, they were very well known."
Mr Fitzpatrick said the family's surviving daughter, aged 20, was struggling to come to terms with the tragedy.
French relatives said Elisabeth had been in Australia for just 10 days.
They described her as a very happy and good-natured person who was devoted to her family, including her two older sisters and a younger brother.
Her sister Emmanuelle said Elisabeth had spent months planning her three-month trip to Australia, where she was keen to improve her English.
Talkback radio callers across Victoria questioned laws allowing learners to drive V8 cars and carry the maximum number of passengers.
A memorial service for Jade was held at the Catholic College of Bendigo, while students at Bendigo Secondary College -- where Brooke was studying in Year 12 -- reflected on the second tragedy to afflict their community in two years.
Two students from the school were killed in a car crash in 2002.
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