Four people have died in a single-vehicle crash south of Ballina in northern New South Wales.
Emergency services were called to Back Channel Road in Wardell after reports a blue Mazda BT50 utility had left the road and rolled.
The male driver and three passengers, two men and a woman, died at the scene.
The four have not yet been formally identified.
Detectives from Richmond Police District are now investigating the cause of the crash, and have told the ABC the car accident occurred earlier in the night and was only discovered by a passer-by at 5:45am.
A crime scene has been established involving specialist police from the state’s crash investigation unit.
Emergency services were called to Back Channel Road in Wardell early this morning.
Local resident David Holmes said he was told there had been a party in the area overnight.
“We just heard the sirens this morning and [saw] flashing lights when I walked my dog,” he said.
“I just went over and asked them what was going on and they said there was a car rolled over with four people in it and they died.”
Joel Orchard from Wardell’s community hub said the deaths overnight were a further blow for people living in the area who were still recovering from the impact of recent floods.
“It’s a tragedy for everyone to wake up to that kind of news so close to home,” he said.
“This community lives with a sense of loss from the floods … this sort of news is terrible for everyone in any circumstance but certainly it will impact this community significantly.” abcnews