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The two men who died in a horror five-car crash on a busy highway have been identified as loving fathers, both from Sydney, as more heartbreaking details are revealed.
David Drozd, 42, and Jason McMahon, also 42, lost their lives in the horror multi-car crash on the Great Western Highway west of the Blue Mountains on Friday.
Drozd has been remembered as a highly respected traffic engineer who seven years ago wrote a report for the Blue Mountains Council about the dangers on the same road where he lost his life.
He was on his way to Dubbo with his wife, 41, and four children, aged between five and 15, when tragedy struck.
His wife and children are among the 15 injured and hospitalized.
Drozd previously worked for Penrith Council before starting his own traffic consultancy business in 2012.
David Drozd (pictured) was heading to Dubbo with his wife and four children when tragedy struck.
Jason McMahon (above) was previously identified as the first victim of the five-car crash near Lithgow on Friday.
On Saturday it was revealed that McMahon, 42, was also a doting father who was about to marry the love of his life.
His son Connor, 19, paid a heartbreaking tribute on Saturday night.
‘I have lost the man. “I always wanted to be, he was the kind of person who would just drop everything to go help someone,” he told Nine News in a statement.
“I’m going to miss my dad every minute that he couldn’t see me start.”
TO GoFundMe The crowdfunding page for her fiancé McMahon and their children was created on Friday night.
“Unfortunately, the McMahon family has lost a great role model in their lives,” it reads.
‘His family has lost a son, a father, a fiancé and more.
“The purpose of this GoFundMe is to help her fiancé and the rest of her family raise money to cover funeral costs.”
McMahon had reportedly been cycling in nearby Sunny Corner with family friend Declan Jones, who was also injured in the accident. They were heading to his home in western Sydney.
Police said Friday’s crash on the Great Western Highway at Wallerawang, about 15 kilometers north of Lithgow, appeared to have unfolded when a car crossed onto the wrong side of the road.
Investigators said Saturday morning that McMahon’s eastbound Isuzu D-Max, towing a motorcycle trailer, collided with a westbound Toyota Hilux.
That Toyota then collided with a Hyundai Tuscan, throwing it off the road and trapping its occupants.
In the midst of the chaos, the Isuzu collided head-on with a Kia Carnival. A Nissan Patrol, which was towing a caravan, then collided with the Isuzu’s trailer.
McMahon and the 49-year-old driver of the Kia, who has not yet been named, were trapped and died at the scene.
The Kia’s six passengers, including five children and a 41-year-old woman, were injured.
In the horrific crash, at least 15 people were injured and two drivers, Mr McMahon and the 49-year-old Kia driver, were killed (pictured, emergency services at the scene).
A nine-year-old girl is in critical but stable condition in hospital, while the other four are stable and the adult has been released from the hospital.
Many of those caught in the fatal accident were leaving or returning from the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Images from the scene showed more than a dozen ambulances, with paramedics and SES agents helping the injured.
Several vehicles were mangled with debris scattered across the stretch of road at 110 kilometers per hour, including suitcases, pillows and dirt bikes.
The Great Western Highway has since reopened.
NSW Police Superintendent Paul Glinn said: “It appears a vehicle has crossed onto the wrong side of the road.”
McMahon had reportedly been cycling in nearby Sunny Corner with family friend Declan Jones (above).
Fire crews arrived at “a scene of carnage.”
“Crews, with the help of an ambulance and a voluntary rescue association, had to make critical decisions when triaging patients,” said NSW Fire and Rescue service commander Phil Vaiciurgis.
“We had to carry out two complicated rescues due to serious entrapment injuries and provide fire protection and assist police and ambulances to make the scene safe.”
Friday’s tragedy brings the death toll on New South Wales roads to 352 in 2023, 82 more than last year.
Tragedy has rocked the region west of the Blue Mountains.
NSW Fire and Rescue service commander Phil Vaiciurgis described the accident as “a scene of carnage” (pictured, paramedics with one of the injured).
“This is shocking news and everyone sends their condolences to the families and loved ones who were involved in that serious accident,” Bathurst MP Paul Toole said. ABC News.
‘It has a huge ripple effect on our local communities.
“I know the police have not identified those involved in the incident, but we know it is going to cause a lot of pain and loss.”
Investigators urge anyone with information or dash cam footage to contact police.