Wednesday's news in 5 minutes.

1. Mother arrived at car crash scene moments before her teenage daughter died.

‘I was able to say goodbye’: Mum of teen speaks of last moments by her daughter’s side following Marlborough crash https://t.co/HVryxFsZYI pic.twitter.com/FUhuJDayLj

— nzherald (@nzherald) February 21, 2017

The mother of a 16-year-old New Zealand girl who was killed when the SUV she was travelling in rolled on a highway arrived at the crash scene just in time to say “goodbye”.

Jayne Glover was alerted to the accident by a phone call from a family friend who happened to be at the scene, New Zealand Herald reports. Jayne arrived to be by her daughter Lara’s side shortly after emergency services attended the site of the accident.

“I was able to say goodbye,” Jayne Glover told the New Zealand Herald.

“I felt so blessed that someone had done that [called me] and very, very, very thankful.”

The 16-year-old was travelling with seven other teenagers – ranging in ages from 15 to 17 – in the car when it crashed on Sunday.

Three of Lara’s fellow passengers are still recovering in hospital.

Seventeen-year-old Jordan Bosch has been in an inducted coma since the crash, with his father confirming he has suffered a punctured lung, ruptured spleen and a lower spine fracture, stuff.co.nz reports.

Police are still investigating what led to the crash and have not yet laid any charges.

2. Family of Karen Ristevski vows to help find who killed the “beautiful, loving” mother.

Karen Ristevski’s family vows to help find her killer, as they pay tribute to the ‘beautiful, loving’ mother https://t.co/eJ0Dm0ordi

— The Age (@theage) February 21, 2017

The family of Karen Ristevski has paid tribute to the Melbourne mother after police confirmed a body found in bushland at Mount Macedon was hers.

“Happy we found her. Devastated that’s how she was discarded,” her aunt, Patricia Gray, said on Tuesday night, The Age reports.

“How a person such as Karen, so full of love, life and laughter, could be left, abandoned, discarded with no thought or emotion shown is unforgivable,” she said.

Her family has vowed to do everything possible to help find the person responsible for Karen’s death.

“We will continue to do everything we can to assist police to help find the person responsible,” Ms Ristevski’s cousin Lisa Gray told Fairfax.

“We call on anyone who may have seen or heard anything, particularly from the Mount Macedon area, to call Crime Stoppers.

“Karen was such a beautiful, kind, generous and loving person.”

The 47-year-old was last seen alive at 10am on June 29, 2016.

3. Pilot of Essendon plane crash was under investigation for a mid-air near miss in 2015.

Essendon plane crash pilot was already under investigation, Fairfax can reveal https://t.co/jz5V3fJn4F pic.twitter.com/8IwG2fEgCk

— The Age (@theage) February 21, 2017

Fairfax is reporting that the pilot of the plane that crashed at Essendon Airport yesterday, killing all five on board, was the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

Max Quartermain, 63, was reportedly facing a possible suspension of his aviation licence over a mid-air near miss with another plane in September 2015.

The Beechcraft B200 King Air Quartermain was flying came “within 1.8 kilometres horizontally and 90 metres vertically” to a plane travelling from Sydney.

The pilot of the other plane claimed that if there was a mid-air collision between the two aircraft “18 people would have been killed”.

Yesterday’s crash at Essendon Airport is Victoria’s worst civil aviation accident in 30 years. Witnesses say the plane, carrying pilot Quartermaine and four passengers, erupted into a “massive fireball” when it crashed into a DFO shopping centre just after 9:00am.

Victoria Police Superintendent Mick Frewen said the plane appeared to be affected by a “catastrophic engine failure”.

4. Australian model saves teens who fell through a frozen pond while taking selfies.

Aussie saves teens from frozen NYC pond https://t.co/QAa19DrlkJ

— news.com.au (@newscomauHQ) February 21, 2017

Two male models have been hailed as heroes after they rushed to help a group of teenagers who fell through ice on a Central Park pond while taking selfies, news.com.au reports.

Australian model Ethan Turnbull, 24, was skateboarding through the famous New York City park with his friend, fellow model Bennett Jonas, when he saw the teens struggling in the freezing cold water just before 6pm on Monday.

“I look over, I saw six heads just trying to get to the shore,” Jonas told NBC News.

“The back one was probably a good 20 yards from dry land.”

Turnbull added that the last teen they rescued from the water was unconscious.

The teens were taken to local hospitals with minor injuries, most of them hypothermia-related. Divers then entered the pond – believed to be around five metres deep in the middle – to ensure no one else was in the water.

FDNY officials believe the group of boys – aged 15 and 16 – were “horsing around” on the thin ice of the off-limits pond before deciding to take a photograph of themselves.

The ice gave way beneath them.

5. Federal Health Minister set to announce approval of medicinal marijuana trade.

massive news as Greg Hunt will immediately green light a medicinal cannabis trade https://t.co/DCKXhDX8Yw

— brad esposito (@braddybb) February 21, 2017

Health Minister Greg Hunt is set to announce today companies will be permitted to establish an immediate legal marijuana trade locally, News Corp Australia reports.

The news comes after the federal parliament passed laws last year to legalise medicinal cannabis for use in Australia by patients suffering from painful and chronic illnesses, like HIV sufferers, those with severe epilepsy and cancer patients.

Patients have previously been forced to import medicinal cannabis from overseas or turn to the black market for medications. Mr Hunt’s announcement means sick patients would no longer have to wait for treatment.

“We have listened to the concerns of patients and their families that are having difficulty accessing the product while domestic production becomes available,” he told News Corp Australia.

“We are now making it easier to access medicinal cannabis, while still maintaining strict safeguards for individual and community safety. As part of these changes, importers can source medicinal cannabis products from a reputable supplier overseas and store these in a safe, secure warehouse in Australia.”

The growth and use of cannabis for recreational purposes is still illegal, with state-based criminal laws still in place.

6. Couple arrested after their eight-year-old son overdosed on heroin.

Parents arrested after 8-year-old son overdosed on heroin, police say https://t.co/sW1FdnJadG

— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 21, 2017

A couple from Ohio have been arrested and charged with child endangerment after their eight-year-old son reportedly suffered a non-fatal overdose of heroin last month, the Washington Post reports.

Police responded to a report of a child not breathing at a home on January 11. When they arrived at the scene, they found the child unresponsive and his father doing chest compressions.

Officers suspected the parents – Charles Dowdy and Danielle Simko, both 31 – of narcotics use after finding drugs and syringes on their property.

According to police reports, Dowdy originally said that he and his partner had been in bed with their son when they noticed his lips turning blue.

“I think he was sleeping and I think what happened was he rolled over and I don’t think he could breathe,” Dowdy told dispatcher in the 911 call obtained by WKYC.

“I think he was just, like, in the pillow and he suffocated.”

According to cleveland.com, staff discovered prescription pills and a small bag of heroin in the child’s sock.

The eight-year-old’s father admitted to using drugs in the house earlier that day, and he and his partner were arrested at the hospital.

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