— With AAP.
1. “My wife, my wife.” Woman killed by cement truck just two days before her 61st wedding anniversary.
An elderly woman who was hit and killed by a cement truck, as she was crossing a Sydney road with her husband, was due to celebrate their 61st wedding anniversary this weekend.
Gangotri Maharaj, 83, was hit by the truck on Willoughby Road in Crows Nest and died at the scene on Thursday morning, according to NSW Police.
Her husband Vijay Maharaj was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital suffering shock, while the 35-year-old truck driver was also hospitalised for mandatory testing.
The couple had reportedly become Australian citizens last week and were in the area to vote in the federal election at a pre-poll booth.
The couple were holding hands at the intersection, waiting to cross the road and meet their daughter.
A witness heard a distraught Mr Maharaj crying “my wife, my wife” over her body after the accident around 11am.
Their daughter Gita Singh said the family is devastated by the tragedy which happened just minutes after they voted.
“We are still in shock as my mother lies dead on the road and my dad is lying in hospital asking if it was true. Devastated. Distraught,” she told Network Ten on Thursday.
NSW Ambulance Inspector Carolyn Parish described the woman’s injuries as catastrophic.
“The injuries were so catastrophic that the paramedics did everything they could to treat the patient, however, as a consequence (she) has died,” Insp Parish told reporters at the scene.
“It was quite a significant, traumatic scene for the attending crews.”
A police unit is investigating the crash.
2. Guard of honour to farewell lost Victorian lifesavers.
A Victorian father and son who lost their lives during an Easter Sunday rescue will have a guard of honour lining the streets of the town where they will be farewelled.
Lifesavers across the country are also planning to wear red on Friday in tribute to dairy farmers Ross “Po” Powell, 71, and Andrew Powell, 32, at their funeral in their close-knit community of Timboon.
The pair were among three rescuers who saved a male tourist, struggling after wading in dangerous waters at the mouth of Sherbrook River at Port Campbell.
Their rescue boat flipped in two-metre swells and while the 30-year-old tourist and fellow rescuer, Phil Younis, were winched to safety, the father-son pair couldn’t be saved.
“To read so many beautiful messages of support has touched our hearts and we thank you,” Port Campbell Surf Life Club President Scott McKenzie said in a message posted online.
“We know you’re all feeling the loss with us, and it gives us and the families involved, strength.”
