A New South Wales mid-north coast community is devastated after two teenage hitchhikers were killed on a highway on New Year’s Day.
The two boys, aged 16 and 19, from Port Macquarie, were hit by a four-wheel-drive car as they walked along the Oxley Highway, between Wauchope and Port Macquarie, just after 12.30pm local time on Sunday.
The driver was found to be over the blood alcohol limit in a breath test at the scene but a second test at Port Macquarie police station had him under the limit.
Inspector Paul Fuller said the pair were walking on the edge of the busy road next to fast-travelling traffic and died at the scene.
“There’s no footpath to speak of and they were walking along the edge of the roadway.
“The death of two young men in relatively small communities has a significant impact. Further inquiries will be made but at this stage there have been no charges.”
In another holiday tragedy, a toddler holidaying on the NSW Central Coast with his family was left with serious head injuries after falling from the window of an apartment block on to a concrete path.
The 3-year-old boy fell 4m from a first-floor window at The Entrance, according to a statement from Careflight rescue helicopter.
The boy was unconscious and was put into an induced coma before being flown to Westmead Children’s Hospital in Sydney. AAP