A Toyota RAV4 driver made a “conscious decision” to drive on the wrong side of Leach Highway in Cloverdale, Western Australia, killing four people in the early hours of January 13, 2025. The crash occurred at approximately 3:40 AM near Perth Airport when the RAV4 collided head-on with a Toyota Camry taxi, causing both vehicles to burst into flames.
The 58-year-old taxi driver, identified as Sendeku Tesema, a father of three, died at the scene along with his two passengers – an 81-year-old mother and her 56-year-old daughter who he had just picked up at Perth Airport. The driver of the RAV4, also 58, died in the collision.
Emergency services arrived to find both vehicles engulfed in flames. “This is almost the most horrific incident you could attend as a police officer in a road crash scenario,” Detective Senior Sergeant Hugh Le Tessier stated at the scene.
Investigators retrieved the RAV4’s dashcam SD card from the wreckage before the vehicle was “completely engulfed” in flames. The footage showed the driver speeding through the streets of Belmont and Cloverdale before deliberately driving up the off-ramp onto Leach Highway, then traveling southbound in the northbound lanes. The recovered dashcam evidence revealed a pattern of erratic driving at high speeds through multiple suburbs before entering the highway.
Detective Le Tessier said he was shocked the dash-cam survived the flames.
The mother and daughter in the taxi were returning home from a holiday when the crash occurred. Police described the impact as catastrophic as investigators worked to understand the circumstances that led to the RAV4 driver’s actions.
Tesema had worked as a taxi driver in Perth for several years. The accident had a devastating impact on Tesema’s family. His wife required an ambulance after learning of his death. Their 18-year-old daughter, Eyerusalem Sendeku Achamyeleh, described her father as the funniest, most caring man, saying all loved him.
Fellow taxi driver Setegn Abate had spoken with Tesema at the international airport taxi stand at 2 a.m., just before the crash. The two routinely talked on the phone throughout their shifts. Abate became concerned when he couldn’t reach Tesema after 45 minutes, calling nine times without a response. Another driver, Toli Wakli, described the loss as shocking for the taxi industry.
The crash forced the closure of Leach Highway westbound between Tonkin Highway and Orrong Road for five hours as Major Crash Investigators examined the scene and collected debris.
The incident prompted an immediate response from Western Australian authorities. The state recorded 186 road fatalities in 2024, marking the highest toll since 2016. On the same day as the Cloverdale crash, a 59-year-old cyclist lost their life in a separate incident involving a garbage truck in Bibra Lake, south of Perth. Western Australian Premier Roger Cook addressed the mounting road toll, emphasizing the need for increased vigilance on the state’s roads.
Major Crash investigators continue their examination of the incident and have urged any witnesses or those with dashcam footage to contact Crime Stoppers.