Charges framed against driver in case of death of five Australian-Indians in car accident

Melbourne (Uttam Hindu News): Police in Australia charged an elderly driver on Monday after a car crash in Victoria state last month. Five people of Indian origin were killed and several others were injured in the accident. A 66-year-old man drove his SUV into the beer garden of the Royal Daylesford Hotel, injuring 10 people from three families who had gathered for a weekend away on November 5.

Victoria Police’s Major Collision Investigation Unit (MCIU) charged the driver with seven charges. The man, identified by The Age newspaper as William Swail of Mount Macedon, appeared before the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday.

On the day of the incident, Swail was driving on Albert Street in Daylesford, when he hit about ten people sitting outside the Royal Daylesford Hotel. Vivek Bhatia, 38, of Tarneet, his son Vihaan, 11, and Pratibha Sharma, 44, of Point Cook, her daughter Anvi, nine, and partner Jatin Chugh, 30, died in the accident. Sharma’s nine-year-old daughter Anvi was taken to the hospital, where she died.

Five others, including Bhatia’s wife Ruchi (36), younger son Abir (6) and 11-month-old child, suffered serious injuries. Victoria Police said so far the 11-month-old baby, a 43-year-old Kyneton woman and a 38-year-old Cockatoo man have been discharged. On the other hand, driver Swell’s lawyer Martin Amad said that his client has no criminal history. He was not even drunk at the time of the accident. “He is deeply distressed and feels deep sympathy for the families and friends of the victims and the Daylesford community,” Amad previously said in a statement.