— With AAP.
1. “My wife, my wife.” Woman killed by cement truck just two days before her 61st wedding anniversary.
An elderly woman who was hit and killed by a cement truck, as she was crossing a Sydney road with her husband, was due to celebrate their 61st wedding anniversary this weekend.
Gangotri Maharaj, 83, was hit by the truck on Willoughby Road in Crows Nest and died at the scene on Thursday morning, according to NSW Police.
Her husband Vijay Maharaj was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital suffering shock, while the 35-year-old truck driver was also hospitalised for mandatory testing.
The couple had reportedly become Australian citizens last week and were in the area to vote in the federal election at a pre-poll booth.
The couple were holding hands at the intersection, waiting to cross the road and meet their daughter.
A witness heard a distraught Mr Maharaj crying “my wife, my wife” over her body after the accident around 11am.
Their daughter Gita Singh said the family is devastated by the tragedy which happened just minutes after they voted.
“We are still in shock as my mother lies dead on the road and my dad is lying in hospital asking if it was true. Devastated. Distraught,” she told Network Ten on Thursday.
NSW Ambulance Inspector Carolyn Parish described the woman’s injuries as catastrophic.
“The injuries were so catastrophic that the paramedics did everything they could to treat the patient, however, as a consequence (she) has died,” Insp Parish told reporters at the scene.