Five people who lost their lives when a car ploughed into the Daylesford pub’s beer garden have been identified as two families holidaying together over Victoria’s long weekend.
News Corp named three of the victims as Point Cook lawyer Pratibha Sharma, 44, her daughter Anvi, 9, and partner Jatin Chugh, 30.
The other two deceased have been named by The Indian Sun as Vivek Bhatia, 38, from Tarneit, and his eldest son Vihaan, aged 11.
Vivek’s wife Ruchi Bhatia, 36, is reportedly fighting for life in the intensive care unit of Royal Melbourne Hospital and their six-year-old son Abeer remains stable.
The families were said to have been friends for about a decade and were spending the long weekend together when they were wiped out in the terrible tragedy.
The Herald Sun reports a third group of diners, including a 43-year-old Kyneton woman, a 38-year-old Cockatoo man and an 11-month-old boy were all injured.
Three families were sitting in the Royal Daylesford Hotel’s roadside beer garden when a BMW SUV mounted the kerb and slammed into patrons about 6pm on Sunday.
The 66-year-old driver remains in hospital for shock and non-life threatening injuries and is expected to be interviewed by police on Tuesday.
He did not have alcohol in his system and was not known to police.
Friends of Pratibha Sharma expressed their absolute shock and sorrow on Facebook, describing Sharma as a vivacious community-minded woman who deeply loved her daughter.
Sharma ran for state parliament in 2018 and later put her hand up to run for Wyndham City Council.
During the pandemic, the committed community volunteer delivered food packages to people in home quarantine.
In June this year she was admitted as a lawyer in the Supreme Court of Victoria and posted a photo alongside her daughter.
Sharma often shared her immense love of her child who she called her biggest motivation in life.
Former Victorian MP Kaushaliya Vaghela said Sharma was well known in the Indian diaspora community for her “vivacious personality and volunteering work”.
“Melbourne is extremely poorer without the smiling and vibrant person like Pratibha, who is gone too soon,” posted Vaghela.
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