A man who police suspect deliberately caused a horrific crash in Perth that killed four people has been named.
The man has been identified as Rabin Rawal, a 43-year-old father and well-known member of Perth’s Nepalese community.
The crash happened near Perth Airport in the early hours of Monday.
Rabin Rawal has been identified as the RAV4 driver killed in a crash on the Leach Highway in Perth. Picture: Supplied
Even before Mr Rawal was identified as the driver, police said they believed he had driven on the wrong side of the Leach Highway on purpose.
Mr Rawal’s vehicle collided head-on with a taxi. A 58-year-old father of three and taxi driver, Sendeku Tesema, was killed. His two female passengers were a mother and daughter, aged 56 and 81; both women also died at the scene.
Police have described the crash as particularly horrific. Picture: 7News
Premier Roger Cook has foreshadowed that details to come about the incident will be “disturbing” to the public.
7News reports Mr Rawal was a married father and public servant who lived about two kilometres from the crash scene.
The crash happened about 3.40am on Monday in the eastern suburb of Cloverdale.
Taxi driver Sendeku Tesema (right) was killed in the crash. Picture: Facebook
Mr Rawal’s RAV4 was totally burnt out following the crash, while Mr Tesema’s taxi was destroyed.
Images of the violent crash scene were widely shared on social media.
Top police officers have described the scene as particularly awful.
“ … Almost the most horrific incident you could attend as a police officer in a road crash scenario – very confronting,” Detective Senior Sergeant Hugh Le Tessier said.
Police Commissioner Col Blanch said investigators were “very concerned by what we’ve recovered from the dashcam” and said the possibility of a murder-suicide was being investigated.
“That’s certainly part of the investigation and we may end up with that conclusion but it’s too early to tell,” he said.
Mr Cook said “there will be more details and they’ll be disturbing”.
Police have opened a dedicated website link for people to submit their footage of – and leading up to – the incident.
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