A South Australian family has been torn apart after a dad and grandmother were killed and two boys injured in a tragic crash.
The family, who are from Whyalla, were on their way to Port Pirie on Thursday when the ute they were travelling in left the road and crashed into a tree.
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The family were just half an hour from their destination, on their way to pick up a birthday present for the boys, when tragedy struck on the Augusta Highway at Baroota.
The driver, 40-year-old Duane Tee, and his 61-year-old mother Debbie were killed instantly.
Duane’s sons, aged 11 and 14, were injured in the crash.
Both were taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital for treatment.
A friend of the family Adam Walker told 7NEWS the crash was a “terrible, tragic thing that just came out of nowhere”.
In a letter to parents, the Nicolson Avenue Primary School Community said it was offering support to students impacted by the bad news.
SA Police Superintendent Bob Gray said the incident was a tragedy.
“You’ve got an 11-year-old and a 14-year-old that now have the prospect of going through the rest of their lives without their father and without their grandmother, and that’s very sad, and it’s catastrophic,” he said on Thursday.
“A wife has lost her husband, she’s lost her mother-in-law and she has two children seriously injured.”
He said the crash was a reminder about the consequences of road trauma.
“I think people often look at lives lost as a number and don’t actually spend the time to reflect on what that actually means, and the consequences for the families involved,” he said.
“And it’s not just people that lose their lives, it’s people that are seriously injured as well, because quite often, the quality of life for those people changes forever.
“It affects loved ones, work colleagues and quite often communities so I implore people to be cautious, drive safely, and consider the consequences and implications of your actions when using our roads, because they are significant.”
A fundraiser launched to help the boys in their recovery has raised more than $18,000.
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