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SINGAPORE - Two Singaporeans died after their vehicle overturned on a country road in western Victoria on Thursday morning. Four other passengers in the car, including a five-year-old girl, were injured. Two of the seriously injured were flown to hospitals in Melbourne.
According to Australian media reports, a man and a woman, believed to be either in their 20s or 30s, died at the scene of the crash on the Glenthompson-Caramut Road near Caramut, about 250 kilometres west of Melbourne. The accident happened at about 10.30am local time (8.55am Singapore time).
Australian police said it appeared that the Toyota Tarago they were travelling in drifted onto gravel at the side of the road, corrected sharply to the other side and rolled several times before landing on its roof.
The group was driving to the Grampians after travelling the Great Ocean Road the day before and staying overnight in Warrnambool.
It is not known how the accident happened on the narrow, one-lane back road heading to Glenthompson, some distance to the east from the Warrnambool-Penshurst Road usually taken by tourists travelling from Warrnambool to the Grampians.
The Grampians mountain range, with its national and state parks, is a popular tourist destination.
The manager of tourism services at Warrnambool City Council, Peter Abbott, said people from overseas often mistakenly believe they can make the six-hour trip to Warrnambool in two hours.
He said it is always highlighted to "international guests the need to drive on the left-hand side of the road and the need to take their time and to take breaks".
The trip from Melbourne on the Great Ocean Road is a 250 km journey. At times, cars have to slow to between 20 and 30 kilometres per hour.
The injured are a 25-year-old man, with chest injuries; a woman - aged about 30 - with head, chest and leg injuries; and a 43-year-old man who suffered cuts to the head and possible spinal injuries, reported Australia's The Age newspaper. The child suffered cuts to the head. All are believed to be related.
Melbourne police will investigate the cause of the crash and determine whether speed was a factor.
A spokesman from Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said officials are "aware of the accident and are in contact with the next-of-kin in Singapore. We will continue to render all consular assistance."
- CNA/ir
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