- Four children have been killed and three are in hospital after a pedestrian crash involving a 4WD
- Emergency services attended the scene at Oatlands near Parramatta just before 8:00pm on Saturday
- Police said the 4WD driver returned a positive result to a roadside breath test
The father of three of the four children killed in a horror crash at Oatlands in Parramatta has spoken of his devastating loss the morning after the tragedy.
Daniel Abdallah and his wife Leila Geagea lost three of their six children on Saturday night.
Just before 8:00pm, emergency services were called to Bettington Road, Oatlands, near Parramatta, where seven children had been allegedly hit by a 4WD.
Mr Abdallah’s children Antony, 13, Angelina, 12 and Sienna, 9, were killed in the crash
His cousin Bridget lost her daughter too, he said.
“I don’t know what to say, I’m numb,” he said.
“All I want just want to say is ‘Please, drivers be careful’. These kids were just walking innocently, enjoying each other’s company, and this morning I woke up — I have lost three kids.”
A 29-year-old man has been charged with 20 offences including four counts of manslaughter, four counts of dangerous driving occasioning death from driving under influence, four counts of dangerous driving occasioning death, driving with a high-range blood alcohol reading and driving through a red light.
At Castle Hill Police Station, he allegedly returned a reading of 0.150.
He will appear at Parramatta Bail Court today.
Police said the man driving the 4WD and his 24-year-old male passenger were both uninjured.
Father says children have ‘gone to a better place’
Mr Abdallah described his son Antony as a “very handsome boy” who loved basketball.
“Actually he woke up that morning and said, ‘We’re going to play this game for Kobe [Bryant]’.”
He said Angelina was “my little helper … anything I needed, she had my back.”
Sienna, he said, was “my little diva, little actress”.
“They have gone to a better place,” he said.
He said all the children involved were related and the cousins had come over to the Abdallah house.
“They were all coming over to get babysat. I told them, ‘Just go for a walk, little walk, stay together. You should be OK’,” he said.
“Give a little bit of independence, you know, and this is one-in-a-million.
“They didn’t do anything wrong. They were just walking on the footpath.
Three other children, an 11-year-old boy and two girls aged 10 and 13, were treated at the scene by NSW Ambulance paramedics before being taken to the Children’s Hospital at Westmead.
One boy was thought to be in a critical condition, but is now stable and two girls were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Acting superintendent for Police NSW Danielle Emerton said the families of the children were front of mind.
“This is about the families … they have lost four children and three are in hospital and it must be devastating for them,” she said.
Scene also confronting for emergency services
Eighteen paramedics attended the scene on the suburban road.
Acting superintendent NSW Ambulance Andrew McAlpine said the scenes were confronting.
“It’s very difficult for police, for paramedics, for fire and rescue to be confronted with such chaos and such carnage.”
Police have begun an investigation into the crash, the scene of which will be examined by specialist police from the Metropolitan Crash Investigation Unit.
ABC NEWS
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