The Indian community in Sydney is rallying together to raise money for the family of Rishabh Verma, an international student killed in a truck collision earlier this week.
In the early hours of 28 April, emergency services were called to an accident on the M7 near Camden Valley Way off-ramp after two trucks collided.
Trapped in the wreckage, in the driver’s seat of a Mitsubishi table-top truck, Rishabh died at the scene.
“I received a call on Wednesday morning out of the blue, informing me that Rishabh, one of the drivers, had passed away,” lamented Avinashi Singh.
As Rishabh’s former employer and emergency contact, he was contacted by NSW Police and passed on the devastating news to Rishabh’s family.
“Rishabh was like a brother to me. He was a really good guy, a hard worker, and a generally happy individual,” Avinashi told Indian Link.
“He had just celebrated his 20th birthday in January.”
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With the hopes of raising some money for Rishabh’s family back in Moga, Punjab, Avinashi has created a GoFundMe page for community contributions. In two days, it has already raised nearly $20,000.
“We just want to help the family and bring him home,” Avinashi explained.
Rishabh was a student of automobile engineering at Trinity Institute, Parramatta. He had arrived in Australia in 2019 on a student visa.
The college has already reached out to Rishabh’s family, hoping to assist with some of the costs.
Glenwood Gurdwara, too, is helping the family with the costs of transporting Rishabh’s mortal remains.
Rishabh’s aunt Geeta Verma, who is based in Perth, travelled to Sydney on Thursday morning on hearing the devastating news.
Understandably shaken, she describes Rishabh as intelligent, a good person, and a good son to his parents.
“He had worked with Avinashi for quite some time and had just started a new job a few weeks ago,” she told Indian Link. “It was terrible, getting this news from Avinashi.”
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After the accident, the driver of the other truck, a Volvo primer mover, was taken to Liverpool Hospital for mandatory testing. Liverpool City Police Area Command are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash.
“No amount of money will make up for this loss,” Avinashi said mournfully. “But we want to help as much as we can.”
You can donate to the fundraiser for Rishabh Verma here.
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