Aveley lake deaths: Uncle of Ruxmi Premji Vaghjihani reveals tragic detail about Nidhi Lalji Hirani’s car

The last person to speak to two nursing students as their car sank in an Aveley lake has told of being woken to their panicked phone call in the minutes before their deaths, revealing it was the first time the new car was going to be driven far from home. Friends Nidhi Lalji Hirani and Ruxmi Premji Vaghjihani, both aged 20, were on their way to work about 6.40am on Sunday when their car crossed the median strip as it turned off Egerton Road to Gnangara Road and landed in the lake at a local park. Ms Vaghjihani’s uncle, Kalpesh Halai, said he was woken to a phone call about 10 minutes earlier from Ms Hirani, telling him that there had been an accident and “our car is in the lake”. The pair — best friends who were living with Mr Halai after they travelled to Perth in February to study nursing at Edith Cowan University — were due to start a shift at a deli in Ballajura. Mr Halai said Ms Hirani, who had an international driver’s licence, had bought the Toyota Corolla in mid-August and had only started driving it last week, but only short distances close to her Aveley home. It was the first time she was going to drive it to work, Mr Halai said, but she did not make it more than two minutes down the road. Mr Halai said despite his frantic conversation with the pair as their car filled with water, he still had no idea exactly what caused the car to lose control. “Maybe it was inexperience or maybe loss of control,” he said. “And instead of braking she pressed the accelerator, that’s all I can think of.” Recounting the last phone call he had with Ms Hirani, Mr Halai said at first he thought maybe the pair had left their keys behind. But he was shocked to hear the words “the car is slowly drowning”. “They were in a panic,” he said. “I was sleeping when she called me ... I was trying to figure out exactly what happened. I was heading to the accident scene while I was on the phone. “I told them to try and open the door or break the window. “I could also hear Ruxmi shouting at me saying we are in the car and the car is drowning. “They were stressed, they were panicking, they were distressed. I tried what I could best just to remain calm and sprint to them.” When he arrived at the park, just a two-minute drive from his house, he was confronted with the shocking scene. “I saw the car almost three-quarters in and (other first responders) were trying to break the glass. Just within a few minutes, the car was fully submerged in the water,” he said. “There were a few local people around who were trying to do what they could. “Meanwhile I made a call to triple-0 and within five minutes, a police car, fire brigade and everyone were there to help out. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t save them.” Mr Halai said he was glad the pair phoned him “otherwise we might not have known what happened to them”. He added he took comfort in the fact the friends, who did everything together, were with each other in their final moments. And he described them as “loving” and “good-hearted” people. “They made so many friends in that six or seven months they were here in Perth,” he said. “They were never shy of meeting people. They were very good-hearted. “They wanted to become doctors and nurses and wanted to make their parents proud. “They had so many dreams they were looking forward to. Unfortunately this happened, which we didn’t expect to happen.” The parents of the women live in Kenya and arrangements are being made for their bodies to be transported home. Edith Cowan University vice-chancellor Steve Chapman said staff and students were “terribly saddened to hear that we have lost two of our international students” who were studying at the university’s Joondalup campus. “Our ECU community offers its sincere condolences to our students’ families and friends both here in Australia and overseas,” he said. “I look forward to the opportunity to offer my personal heartfelt condolences and wishes to the families and friends of these two bright young people who were valued members of our university community. “Our community is a close and supportive one and all efforts are being made to support our students and staff in the wake of this tragedy.”