Daylesford car crash victims named: Point Cook family Jatin Chugh, 30, Pratibha Sharma, 44, Anvi Sharma, 9 among those killed when BMW SUV crashes into Royal Hotel beer garden

A family of three have been named killed when a BMW SUV crashed into customers in a beer garden, killing five people.

Mother Pratibha Sharma, 44, and her husband Jatin Chugh, 30, and Mrs Sharma’s daughter Anvi Sharma, 9, were named online as the family who died in the horror accident at 6.05pm on Sunday.

Ms Sharma, a mother and lawyer, was also an advocate against domestic violence and a dedicated member of the Sikh Indian community in Daylesford, who volunteered to deliver groceries to others.

Shell-shocked family friend Preet Singh told the Herald Sun he was struggling to come to terms with their losses.

“It’s incredibly shocking,” he said as he headed to her family’s home in Point Cook in Melbourne’s south-west.

‘I’m at a loss for words. I can’t really believe this.’

“Pratibha Sharma was a noble person who did a lot of great work for the community here,” one woman wrote on Facebook.

On Monday, Victoria Police released sad details about the tragedy, which included the death of an entire family – originally from Point Cook in Melbourne’s south-west – who were on a day out for the city’s unofficial Melbourne Cup long weekend .

A second family, from Tarneit, lost a 38-year-old father and his 11-year-old son in the tragedy. His wife, 36, and his second son, six, were injured, with the woman flown to the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the boy taken to the Royal Children’s Hospital.

A third group of people – made up of a 38-year-old Kyneton woman, a 38-year-old Cockatoo man and an 11-month-old baby boy – were also injured. The baby’s mother, 38, was not injured.

It is understood two of the families were holidaying together in Daylesford, Nine News reported on Monday evening.

The driver, 66, from Mount Macedon, remains in hospital on Monday evening and is expected to be interviewed tomorrow.

The driver appeared to have been experiencing a medical episode at the time of the accident.

Victoria Police Chief Constable Shane Patton revealed earlier in the day that at least two of the groups hit by the car likely knew each other.

“It appears at this stage that it is two groups, two family groups who mainly know each other and who we believe are not from the Daylesford area,” he said.

‘But we are not in a position to really get much further with that.’

Witnesses say the white BMW

The hotel was busy with guests for the unofficial long weekend before Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup bank holiday, with families gathering near an ice cream parlor on the lawn.

The BMW then turned towards the road, collided with a lamppost and eventually came to a stop at a roundabout a few meters away from the hotel, on Howe Street.

The driver had no drugs or alcohol in his system at the time and has a full and unrestricted driver’s license.

A woman told Daily Mail Australia the driver appeared to have suffered a medical episode behind the wheel.

“It’s not like he was drugged, he had a seizure,” she explained, suggesting it could be diabetes.

The witness said: ‘It was just an explosion. Bodies were everywhere.”

Other witnesses said the driver appeared to struggle in his vehicle moments before pressing the accelerator and driving down a steep hill into the beer garden.

Victoria Police say they are still investigating the exact cause of the crash.

The man was later seen being put on a drip and was among the last to be taken to hospital.

“I just saw a family on the ground and I wanted to kill him,” the woman said. ‘I think he wiped out an entire family. I saw the little boy and it just broke my heart.”

On Monday, police said the victims belonged to two families who knew each other and were not locals but visitors “just going about their daily lives… on a beautiful sunny afternoon.”

Paramedics flew four patients to Melbourne for treatment, including one child.

The child was flown to the Royal Children’s Hospital in a serious but stable condition.

Two adults were flown to Royal Melbourne Hospital and one adult was flown to Alfred Hospital, all with serious injuries.

Paramedics also took two patients to Ballarat and one patient to Royal Melbourne in serious but stable conditions.

Victoria Police confirmed the crash on social media on Sunday evening.

“Emergency services are currently at the scene of a fatal crash in Daylesford,” a police statement said.

The pub at the historic Royal Hotel in Daylesford will remain closed until Thursday.