Riddoch Highway crash: Boy, 5, dead after horror three-car smash on Riddoch Highway caused by emu collision

Georgina Noack
The Nightly
The 15-year-old girl is fighting for life in the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

A five-year-old boy has died and teenager is in a critical condition after a horrific three-car pile-up in the border region of South Australia and Victoria.

Emergency services were called to the Riddoch Highway at about 2.40pm on Sunday, October 27, after reports of a three-car crash about five kilometres south of Nangwarry.

South Australia Police (SAPOL) say a Holden sedan struck an emu, which caused a Toyota station wagon to brake.

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A Nissan ute then crashed into the rear of the Toyota.

A five-year-old boy inside the Toyota died at the scene, while a 15-year-old girl was taken to hospital with critical injuries.

The other occupants of the station wagon — a 42-year-old male driver, a 46-year-old woman, a 13-year-old girl and six-year-old boy — were taken to hospital with minor injuries. SAPOL said that all the people inside the Toyota were from Mount Gambier.

The driver of the Nissan ute which rear-ended their car, a 22-year-old male from Worrolong, was not injured but was taken to hospital as a precaution.

Meanwhile, the female driver and sole occupant of the Holden that first struck the emu suffered no injuries.

A stretch of the Riddoch Highway — from McEnroe Road to Nangwarry Road — remains closed on Monday and traffic diversions are in place.

Police are investigating the circumstances of the collision.

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