9 Apr 2015

Fourth child's condition improves

8:46 pm on 9 April 2015

A five-year-old girl's condition has improved after three of her siblings were killed when a car driven by their mother plunged into a lake in Melbourne's outer-west.

Screenshot of the car submerged in a Melbourne lake.

Screenshot of the car submerged in a Melbourne lake. Photo: 7 News

Anger, a four-year-old girl, and her twin brother Madit were killed along with their one-year-old brother Bol as a result of the crash in Wyndham Vale yesterday.

Awel, their five-year-old sister, is in hospital in a serious condition, downgraded from critical.

A male family member interviewed outside the hospital was asked by reporters if the oldest daughter was awake.

"Yes, she'll be fine," he said.

A female relative said the family was staying strong.

Earlier today, police preparing to question the 35-year-old woman who was driving the car confirmed she is their mother.

She was taken to hospital immediately after the incident and placed under police guard before she was discharged.

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Video: Police confirm crash driver was victims' mother (ABC News)

Police confirmed one child died at the scene, another passed away on the way to hospital about 5:30pm (local time), and the third died in hospital before 7.00pm.

Superintendent Stuart Bateson said the mother was assisting police with their inquiries, but it was too early to say if she would face charges.

"I can confirm that our investigation, our joint investigation between our major collision investigation unit and the homicide squad continues," Superintendent Bateson said.

"I can also confirm that the driver of the vehicle, a 35-year-old woman from Wyndham, is currently assisting homicide investigators.

"I can confirm that she is the mum of the four kids... they were all members of the local Sudanese community."

Superintendent Bateson appealed for anyone with information about the family's situation to come forward.

"We understand that there may be some social, cultural and religious implications impacting on the community, but let me reassure you that we will remain respectful of those issues at all times," he said.

"We do need to understand what was happening in their lives and we do need to understand what their movements were leading up to the incident.

"So we ask, if you have any information that you think may assist us in understanding the situation, that you call Crime Stoppers or pop into your local police station."

He said they were not aware of anyone at this stage who had witnessed the car plunging into the lake.

Thomas Kok is a relative of the victims and visited the lake today.

"We just came to pay our tributes. We spent all night at the hospital," Mr Kok said.

"It's shocked everyone. I saw the comments coming [from the community]. It makes me feel like people care."