Northern Territory road crash: Parents and four young daughters who died in fiery smash identified – as dad is revealed as repeat drink driver who didn’t put kids in seat belts

EXCLUSIVE 

A father who died alongside his partner and four young daughters in a horror road smash in the Northern Territory was a repeat drink driver who failed to put kids in seat belts. 

Desert council ranger Titus White, 34, his partner Lisa Martin and their daughters aged from one to nine years were driving in their Mitsubishi Pajero when it veered into the path of a triple road train on Friday afternoon.

Their vehicle containing the six from Lajamanu – a remote Indigenous community halfway between Daring and Alice Springs – exploded into a fireball which burned for more than five hours and left little human remains.

White, who has been working as a ranger for eight years and performed as a traditional Indigenous dancer, had four drink driving convictions – two medium range and two high range – going back to 2014. 

He was charged with driving children around without being restrained properly thee times between 2014 and 2021.  He was also caught driving four times while disqualified, driving an uninsured and unregistered motor vehicle, and breaching bail. 

Lisa Martin and Titus White (above) and their four children died in the horror road smash which is the Northern Territory’s deadliest in 15 years

Lisa Martin and Titus White had four young daughters (above)  aged under 10 who all died  in the horror crash on a NT highway last Friday

Lisa Martin and Titus White had four young daughters (above)  aged under 10 who all died  in the horror crash on a NT highway last Friday

The couple's Mitsubishi Pajero was travelling north on the Stuart Highway when it veered into the path of a road train, erupting into a fireball which burnt for more than five hours

The couple’s Mitsubishi Pajero was travelling north on the Stuart Highway when it veered into the path of a road train, erupting into a fireball which burnt for more than five hours

At the time of his death, White was facing charges of domestic violence and aggravated assaulted relating to February this year.

NT Police said that they weren’t ruling out out ‘alcohol, fatigue or domestic violence’ as reasons for the tragic smash – the deadliest in the NT for more than 15 years.

The family was travelling at Pine Creek near Katherine south of Darwin at about 4.40pm on Friday when it veered into the southbound lane of the Stuart Highway and into the path of a triple road train loaded with produce, cars and fuel .

A friend said the deceased sisters were ‘all tiny tots which makes this all the harder’, and that the ‘devastated’ community of Lajamanu had been holding traditional ceremonies for the family ‘at this dreadful time’.

Lisa Martin (above) and Titus White were travelling between Katherine and Darwin when they crashed

Desert council ranger Titus White, 34 (above) had drink driving and  child seat belt offences

Lisa Martin (left) and her partner Titus White (right) lived in Lajamanu and at the time of the crash were believed to have been making trips between Katherine and Darwin

T Police said that they weren't ruling out out ' alcohol , fatigue or domestic violence' as reasons for the smash

T Police said that they weren’t ruling out out ‘ alcohol , fatigue or domestic violence’ as reasons for the smash

Friends posted on line about their heartbreak and warned against drink driving

Family and friends are reeling from the enormity of the tragedy

Family and friends are reeling from the enormity of the tragedy, posting about their heartbreak and warning about drink driving

As relatives and friends posted emotional messages on Facebook and one warned of the dangers of drink driving, hundreds of mourners converged on Lajamanu and surrounds in coming days for ‘sorry camps’. 

The community is still reeling from the recent deaths of two adults in a car crash on the Buntine Highway near the Victoria River, 150km north of Lajamanu.

‘They just finished sorry business for that. Now they are starting all over again but especially for the girls all aged under 10. Just devastating,’ the friend said. 

Two of Lisa Martin's daughters who she regularly posted pictures of on Facebook and called  'little princesses'

Two of Lisa Martin’s daughters who she regularly posted pictures of on Facebook and called  ‘little princesses’ 

Titus White (above) back in 2015 training to be a desert range for the Northern Territory and worked at the job for eight years until his tragic death last Friday

Titus White (above) back in 2015 training to be a desert range for the Northern Territory and worked at the job for eight years until his tragic death last Friday

One onlooker told Nine News that when the road train driver ‘tried to help the family… he had just got away with his life, I’ll never forget the look on his face’.

NT Police Commissioner Michael Murphy said police had ‘never seen anything like’ the scale of the accident.

‘While we call it an accident, it’s not really an accident,’ he said.

“There’s some sort of element involved that could contribute to that whether it’s mechanical, it could be road surface, it could be roadway, human.’

Police don’t believe there was any wrongdoing by the truck driver, who was travelling with a co-driver.

‘They have a number of injuries but the psychological injuries they’ll carry for the rest of their lives,’ Cr Murphy said. 

Road train company Shaw’s Transport issues a statement  saying: ‘Our sympathy and condolences are offered to the family and friends of those who lost their lives

‘It is expected (the truck drivers’) injuries will heal over time and we are arranging support counselling for them and their families.’

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