Woman's Partner Arrested After She and Her Daughter Were Killed, and Her 3 Other Kids Injured, in 'Catastrophic' Car Crash By Charlotte Phillipp

A man has been arrested after a “catastrophic” car crash in Australia that killed a 30-year-old mom and her 10-year-old daughter, and injured her three other children.

According to police in Queensland, the crash occurred at around 6:30 a.m. local time on Friday, Nov. 7, in the rural Indigenous community of Doomadgee.

The mom’s Toyota Land Cruiser struck a Nissan Maxima and rolled over as she was carrying her two daughters and two sons, ages 1, 3, 4, and 10, police said in a statement. The victims’ identities have not been made public.

Authorities pronounced the mother dead at the scene of the crash, and the 10-year-old girl was transported to a nearby hospital, where she died. The three other children in the car were injured.

Police said the driver of the Nissan, a 28-year-old man, is the father and stepfather to the children in the other car.

Acting Superintendent Paul Austin told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that the man had been in a relationship with the woman killed in the crash.

ABC and 9News reported that two of the injured children were being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, while the third is in “critical” condition.

Charges have not been filed in the case yet, but the cars have been impounded by police as a part of the investigation. The man was taken into custody and transported to Townsville, a city about 13 hours outside Doomadgee, ABC reported.

Photos released by police show the two totaled vehicles being carried on trailers, as both cars had shattered windows and their airbags deployed.

Austin said in a statement that police hope the photos “can assist our enquiries into this matter and help our officers better understand what has occurred.”

“We appeal to anyone who may have seen these vehicles in the days or hours before Friday or may have had interactions with their occupants to contact Doomadgee or Mount Isa Police, as well as Crime Stoppers or Policelink,” he said.

“What occurred on Friday is nothing short of a tragedy, and our officers are dedicated to thoroughly investigating what has occurred, as well as working with the Doomadgee community,” Austin added.

Austin told ABC that he could not comment on whether speed, alcohol, drug use or any other factors played a role in the crash, but said that forensic crash officials were assisting at the scene.

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The superintendent also told the outlet that police were considering domestic violence as a part of the investigation, but said that authorities were still “looking at everything.”

“As you can imagine, it’s certainly a tragic event,” Austin said. “The investigation must be methodical and comprehensive.”

According to the superintendent, the local community is in mourning after the “catastrophic crash.”

“Certainly the grief that’s been experienced as a result of this incident has been extreme,” he said. “We will continue to do whatever we can to support the community through this time.”

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.