The two people who died in a crash on the Monaro Highway near Cooma on Sunday morning were young students from Nepal on a trip to the Snowy Mountains.
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Five people aged in their late teens and early 20s had come from Sydney when the car they were in left the road. A male front seat passenger and a woman in the back seat were killed. It's understood that one person escaped with minor injuries and the 22-year-old driver and another passenger were taken to Canberra Hospital with head injuries that were not life-threatening.
The country's ambassador to Australia, Durapada Sapkota, said the two died at the scene. "We are already in contact with the families".
She said the two people who died were Samikshya Subedi who was studying at Queensford College, Sydney and Gopal Bhandari.
A leader of the Nepalese community in Australia said the man who died was an only son and his parents back home were devastated.
According to the leader, Rishi Acharya, who has talked to one of the survivors, the driver saw a kangaroo or rabbit and tried to avoid it.
"The boy who died is the only son of the family and it's very difficult for the parents to accept," the community leader said.
A back-seat, 22-year-old female passenger was ejected from the vehicle during the crash and died at the scene.
The crash happened near Rose Valley Road, Bunyan, about 10km north of Cooma, and police said speed was a factor.
Despite emergency services attending the scene, Queanbeyan police inspector Sandy Green said she still had to remind passing motorists to slow down and put their seat belts on.
"I am a 26-year police officer and I am mystified about why these things happen and people are not wearing their seat belts and not driving to conditions," Ms Green said.
She said it was an "absolutely tragic" scene, which she said still affected the emergency services who attended.
"It is rather daunting. When I arrived on the scene I was taken aback," she said. "This is a life changing situation for all those emergency services, for every person that went past that accident today."
"And particularly for those occupants in that car and their families. I cannot stress enough about driving to conditions and driving to the speed and resting and taking turns in driving."
"This is horrendous."
Emergency services were called to the crash site about 3.40am after reports a grey, Mazda 6 sedan travelling south had left the road.
The fully loaded car rolled multiple times before landing on its roof.
Monaro police established a crime scene that was examined by the Crash Investigation Unit.
Ms Green said high speed was a factor but said investigators were still establishing the cause, including whether fatigue played a role.
"When you're in the car ... remind your driver about resting and remind them about speed and driving to the conditions," she said. "We as a community need to stamp this out."
She said the three survivors were "exceptionally lucky" to make it out alive.
- With Finbar O'Mallon
Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
