A POLICE Sergeant said four Wangaratta teenagers were fortunate to survive a single vehicle crash on Milawa-Tarrawingee Road in the early hours of Saturday morning, with the 18-year-old driver to be questioned. 

Sergeant Trevor Schultz of Wangaratta police said a Holden Commodore came off the road and crashed into multiple trees near Tarrawingee around 5:30am.

“The vehicle was heavily damaged, and the occupants fortunately survived the impact,” he said.

Sgt Schultz said four Wangaratta locals aged between 15 and 18-years-old were hospitalised, with two of the occupants sustaining serious injuries.

“They are going to take some while to recover,” he said.

An Ambulance Victoria spokesperson said two female teenagers and a male teenager were treated for upper body injuries and taken to Northeast Health Wangaratta in a stable condition.

Emergency services including local CFA, SES, paramedics and police responded to the incident.

Sgt Schultz said the cause of the crash was still under investigation and police would be making further enquiries with the 18-year-old male driver in due course.

The incident occurred some 10 hours prior to an unrelated fatal collision within the rural city at Everton Upper, which killed a 74-year-old Beechworth woman and left two others with life threatening injuries and a seven-year-old girl hospitalised.

The community also continues to mourn the loss of a 19-year-old Wangaratta man, who lost their life in a single-vehicle crash on Warby-Range Road in the early hours of 13 May.

Sgt Schultz said local road safety remained a paramount focus for police.

“It’s a constant endeavour for us to drive our road toll down and we just need everybody to be careful on the road and make safety paramount in their decision making while driving,” he said.