Binman spotted overturned car two days after four teenagers went missing on Wales camping trip
November 23, 2023 at 10:33 AM
Four teenagers killed when their car came off a windy road in North Wales[1] were found by a binman in a flooded ditch two days after they went missing, a local farmer has said. Jevon Hirst, 16, Harvey Owen, 17, Wilf Fitchett, 17, and Hugo Morris, 18, were on their way to a camping trip in Snowdonia[2] on Sunday when their silver Ford Fiesta careered off the A4085 in Garreg, near Porthmadog. The bodies of the friends, who were all studying their A-Levels[3] at Shrewsbury College, were found in an overturned vehicle submerged in water[4] on Tuesday.
A man who runs a farm less than 100ft from the crash site has now revealed the vehicle[5] was first spotted in the ditch by a binman.
Farmer Rhys Williams, of Garreg Hyll Drem Farm, told The Mirror: "They were found by the recycling lorry at 10 that morning. They were higher up, that's why they could see them. The binman told us they had phoned the police."
He added that the teenagers were "so unlucky" that their car didn't avoid the flooded ditch by hitting a tree or fence as it careered from the road[6].
"On Sunday the water was high. It is brutal on Sunday. There's always a foot or two of water in the ditch but it can come up to six feet, the level of the car," Mr Williams said.
"It was bad on Friday and Saturday, the river had gone high quickly. But by Tuesday morning the level had come down. They were so unlucky.
They could have hit a tree or a fence and gone in another way."
Mr Williams said the crash site was an accident blackspot between Harlech and Snowdonia, and that mobile phone signal was nonexistent on some networks. He said: "This is one of two roads they could have taken. There are no tracks on the road, nothing to be seen.
It's a sharp bend, it narrows. There were lots of leaves on that corner. There have been one or two accidents there before."
The farmer first became aware of the incident[7] when he heard a search helicopter on Tuesday morning. He said: "It had the searchlight on. It was still dark.
It was hovering and loud. I didn't think much of it. It moved on and came back later.
They wouldn't have seen anything, no chance."
Last night, at the scene of the crash, an underwater search team was helping police in a search of the area[8]. Crash investigators are still trying to work out how the vehicle left the road, which reopened last night. In North Wales, the families are expected to formally identify the teenagers' bodies today.
Meanwhile in their hometown of Shrewsbury, the town continues to mourn over the tragedy[9] with vigils being held at a number of churches. A floral tribute has also been put up at the teenagers' college campus. The town's Christmas light switch-on was cancelled[10] yesterday.
Shrewsbury Abbey administrator Steve Swinden said: "It's shocked everyone, in Shrewsbury, the county, the whole country even. These were four young lads enjoying their lives, but taken so tragically and suddenly." It's also been reported that a fifth teenager was to join the four, but changed his mind at the last minute.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph about the unnamed youngster, Mimi Ropotka, who worked with Hugo, said: "He can't believe he has lost his friend so suddenly and tragically," adding that he was in a "really bad way." Crystal Owen, Harvey's mother, wrote on Facebook[11]: "I feel like I'm in a nightmare I wish I could wake up from but I'm not. I just wanted to say I do appreciate people's kindness but no amount of messages is going to help me overcome this.
Nothing will make this nightmare go away."
References
- ^ killed when their car came off a windy road in North Wales (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ camping trip in Snowdonia (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ studying their A-Levels (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ submerged in water (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ vehicle (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ careered from the road (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ the incident (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ helping police in a search of the area (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ continues to mourn over the tragedy (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ was cancelled (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ wrote on Facebook (www.independent.co.uk)