A policewoman held the hand of a young driver in the moments before he died after a crash that killed four men in northern Victoria.
With his three passengers already dead in the car which snapped in half on a tree, the police officer found the driver alive but trapped in the vehicle when she arrived at the scene in Pyalong on Wednesday morning.
"The police member held the hand of that person and comforted him as much as she could," Assistant police commissioner Bob Hill told reporters on Wednesday.
"Unfortunately, he passed away 10 or 15 minutes after she arrived."
Mr Hill says the crash, which killed two men aged 22, one 19 and another 28, was one of the worst he had seen.
The men from Moama, Echuca and Cragieburn were reported as Corey Bray, Joshua Taylor, Chris Reddin and Nick Mongta.
Mr Hill said the car became airborne after hitting a wire barrier, before rolling and hitting the tree roof-first at around 6.30am.
"We've got four young men, four corpses in the car ... it's a shocking sight, one of the worst I've been to," he said.
The bodies were trapped in the car and police had to call in a crane to get the vehicle back on the road before the corpses could be recovered.
The group was travelling towards Echuca in a Holden SS Commodore when the car left the road.
Mr Hill said crash experts did not believe excessive speed was a factor.
A P-plate was found on the road at the scene, but police said they were still investigating who was driving.
A relative of one of the victims told Fairfax Media that Mr Reddin, Mr Taylor and Mr Mongta were former students of Echuca College and were outgoing, charismatic and "loved hanging out with their mates".
Mr Bray's uncle Terry Bray worked with his nephew at Echuca Moama Caravans and described him as fun-loving and hardworking.
"He was a unique individual with a lot of friends," Mr Bray told News Corp Australia.
Murray Shire mayor Tom Weyrich said the area would find it difficult to recover from news of the crash.
"I've spoken to people in Moama and Murray Shire earlier today and it's nothing short of devastation," he told AAP.
Mr Hill said the policewoman would be given support.
"(She) comforted a young man, fighting for life. It would have been distressing for her, no doubt," he said.
The deaths bring this year's provisional state road toll to 22, one more than at the same time last year.
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