'Very tragic night': Four police officers killed in horror crash with truck
Four on-duty police officers have been killed in a serious crash with a truck on a Melbourne freeway.
The collision happened on the Eastern Freeway near the Chandler Highway in the inner east suburb of Kew about 5.40pm (local time) on Wednesday.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton told reporters two members of Victoria Police “intercepted” a Porsche, which was travelling at “excessive speed”.
The two stopped the Porsche and decided to impound it and requested two other officers assist them.
Comm Ashton said a truck then drove into the four officers, who weren’t in their vehicles, and made “considerable contact” with the Porsche.
He said the homicide squad along with the major collision unit remained on scene.
“This is a real tragedy,” the commissioner said.
“A very tragic night indeed.”
He added he was “deeply saddened” and the crime scene had an “eerie quiet” as police investigated.
“Everyone down there is feeling it at the moment,” Comm Ashton said.
Comm Ashton said four constables died in the crash and one of them was senior. One of the non-senior members of the group had only recently joined Victoria Police.
The truck driver experienced a "medical episode" at the scene and was taken to hospital under police guard for tests.
Comm Ashton said the driver of a Porsche, who is believed to be uninjured, fled on foot and he’s being sought by police.
"I strongly suggest he gets himself down to the nearest police station," he said.
Images from the scene show a damaged police highway patrol car and a struck SUV near a large, white semi-trailer.
The black Porsche is crumpled underneath the truck and has been covered in a blue tarp.
The exact circumstances surrounding the collision are still to be determined.
"We don't know at this stage what has caused him to drive that truck into our police members," he said.
The truck appears to have Connect Logistics branding. The company has been contacted for comment.
The freeway's lanes are closed in both directions between Bulleen Road and the Chandler Highway.
"We urge motorists to find an alternative route and avoid the Eastern Freeway tonight (Wednesday)," the Department of Transport said in a statement.
‘It’s shocking’
Police Association Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt said the organisation was "shocked and immensely saddened".
"This is a brutally sad reminder of the danger police face in the course of their service, every minute of every shift," he said.
"We mourn their loss, we grieve with their families and colleagues, and we will never forget them."
In a press conference following the incident, Mr Gatt said when the news came through it “floored us, to be quite honest”.
“In some regards you have to check that what you're hearing is correct,” he said.
“To lose four members on one occasion... it's shocking.”
‘We will always call them heroes,’ Daniel Andrews says
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews released a statement on Wednesday night honouring the four officers who lost their lives in the line of duty.
“Tonight, somewhere in our city, four families’ hearts are breaking. Our hearts are breaking with them,” he said.
“We grieve alongside them – just as we grieve with every member of Victoria Police and every member of our emergency services family.
“In the coming days, formal investigations will tell us why – how – this could possibly have happened.
“But one thing is already clear: Though we may not yet know their names – we will always call them heroes.”
Victoria’s Police Minister Lisa Neville said there were “no words adequate to express what's happened tonight and it is an unimaginable tragedy”.
“I know the Victoria Police family is grieving... My thought and my prayers are particularly with the family and the friends of those four police officers who lost their lives,” she said.
“They went to work with every expectation of coming home safely.
“It is a dangerous job as a police officer, but we still want every police officer to come home safely to their families at night.
“That didn't happen this evening for four individuals and their families. They're heroes. They are heroes.”
Ms Neville said this tragedy would not only affect members of the police force, but it would hurt the whole community.
“When someone is injured, someone is harmed, someone is killed in the line of duty, it hurts every single one of us,” she said.
“But as a community, we need to come together and tonight it’s about sending a very strong message to Victoria Police members, to the families involved, that we grieve together, we stand here this evening as one.”
with Yahoo News Australia staff, AAP
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