Jon Curry, who was one of the first on scene, said he and his 37-year-old friend were driving to the Alpine town on Thursday morning, March when the accident occurred on Mansfield-Woods Point Rd.
Jon said he was behind his friend, who was driving a black Landcruiser towing a ski boat, when the man overtook a red Toyota Landcruiser towing a white caravan.
According to initial reports, the red Landcruiser and caravan were forced off the roadway where they caught fire.
‘‘I was behind them when it happened and the caravan was loaded and became unstable on the road,’’ Mr Curry said.
‘‘It was no fault of his at all.’’
The male driver of the car, a 73-year-old Weir Views man and his female passenger, a 71-year-old Weir Views woman, suffered serious injuries and were airlifted to hospital.
‘‘I was the first on scene and grabbed my fire extinguisher from my jetski and tried to put the fire out but it was too small,’’ he said.
‘‘I pulled the man out of the car before it burst into flames.
‘‘The man had a bad gash on his head and didn’t look too good. The woman didn’t seem too bad as she was walking around.’’
The elderly man is in a critical condition awaiting spinal surgery, while the woman is in a serious but stable condition.
Jon said he called 000 and then his friend, who he said was unaware of what had happened and had kept on driving.
‘‘I told him to come back but he needed to do a U-turn so it took a good five minutes for him to get back,’’ he said.
‘‘When he got there, he jumped out of his car and tried to help put out the flames with another fire extinguisher but it was no use.’’
By that stage, Jon said the man’s 10-year-old daughter, who was in the car, was becoming upset.
‘‘He said to me ‘I’ve got to get my daughter out of here’, so he left knowing I had called 000,’’ he said.
‘‘I left my details with the police and then I had to go because I had a young boy with a disability in my car.’’
Jon said the accusations that his friend had not only caused the crash but fled the scene were untrue.
‘‘The first we heard that police were looking for the driver was on Facebook that night,’’ Jon said.
‘‘When we saw that, we rang the police immediately and they told us investigators would call us back in the morning.
‘‘When we hadn’t heard from them in the morning, we hooked up the trailer and boat and dragged it into town and went to the police station.’’
Police then released a statement saying the man had ‘‘handed himself in’’.
The man was questioned by police and released soon after.
‘‘We told the police what happened and they released him without charge,’’ Jon said.
‘‘He’s being blamed for all this when it wasn’t his fault. He’s not doing too well at the moment.’’
Acting Sergeant Rebecca Watkins of Mansfield Highway Patrol said police were still investigating the crash.
She confirmed police had spoken to the man and he had been released pending inquiries.
‘‘The collision is still an active investigation,’’ she said.
‘‘We are still taking statements from others involved and we are attempting to locate other witnesses to obtain statements from them.
‘‘No charges have been laid at this stage.’’
***
MORE LOCAL NEWS
Hoon and drunk driver arrested and cars impounded in Echuca
Bags of rubbish dumped outside Echuca business
Suspicious fire ravages Echuca bungalow
###
18°C