Two Comox men who died in crash in Australia identified
Two 21-year-old Comox men who died in a car crash on the weekend in rural Australia have been identified.
Scott Goebel and Jesse Munroe were in the country on work visas and had been working at a winery near Kerang, according to Victoria state police.
Shortly after midnight on Sunday, five people in a Ford station wagon hit a gravel shoulder, left the road, flipped and crashed into a tree, killing the two Islanders and the German driver, police said. Two other occupants of the car were taken to hospital.
Acting Assistant Commissioner Tim Hansen said police believe all five men in the car had been drinking at a nearby hotel that night.
Investigators are looking at speed, alcohol and vehicle safety as factors in the crash.
Families of the victims have been notified, Hansen said.
Police did not release the victims’ names, but a friend of the men’s families confirmed the pair were recent graduates of École Highland Secondary in Comox.
“They were good boys who made a mistake and got in a car with a drunk driver,” Hansen said.
Canadian consular officials are in contact with family members to offer support and assistance, according to Brianne Maxwell, a spokeswoman for Global Affairs Canada.
“Our thoughts and sympathies are with the family and friends of the two Canadian citizens who passed away in Australia,” she said. “For privacy reasons and out of respect for the families, we are not able to release any further details.”
Australia’s ABC News reported that the country’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Victims Support Agency and Transport Accident Commission were working with the victims’ families to make travel arrangements to Australia.
A 19-year-old British man was taken to hospital in critical condition, and a 29-year-old German man suffered non-life-threatening injuries.