Sydney car crash: 'Lovely and bubbly' female model identified as third victim

A model from Sydney’s northern beaches has been identified as one of the victims of a car crash in the city’s central business district over the weekend. She was travelling in a Nissan GT-R R35 sports car when it flipped and burst into flames.

The victim was identified as Bree Keller. It reportedly took four days to formally identify her as her body was badly burned. Her death was confirmed through News Corp on Wednesday.

The 22-year-old died alongside brothers Steve and Jeff Nasr, aged 39 and 31. They were not able to get out of the burning vehicle, which lost control travelling down Goulburn Street at Darling Harbour.

Her family describes her as a lovely and bubbly person. “We keep thinking of when she is going to walk in the door but she is never going to walk in the door again,” her stepfather Peter Francis told The Daily Telegraph.

A source told Fairfax Media that Keller was the third person in the vehicle who died. Photos from her Facebook and Instagram accounts suggest she is an underwear and bikini model. She had more than 16,000 followers on Instagram.

On Facebook, her former boyfriend Christian Avant wrote about the relationship they shared. He stated that Keller was the last girlfriend he had, and she made him laugh more than anyone he had ever met.

"Mostly, I feel for her beautiful mother Tania and her equally amazing step dad Peter,” Avant wrote. He described Keller as a “unique and incredible soul.”

Superintendent Paul Pisanos from the Sydney City Local Area Command said on Sunday that Keller and the Nasr brothers "effectively have been burnt alive.” Two contributing factors to the crash, he said, were considerable speed along with a loss of control.

It is believed the Nissan GTR sports car sped down Goulburn Street before the driver lost control. The vehicle hit an overpass barrier at the corner of Pier and Harbour streets before it rotated midair. There are reports that claim it landed on its roof outside the Novotel Rockford hotel and ignited just before 3:00 am on Saturday.

Pisanos said four police officers attempted to save the victims and were "extremely traumatised.” Joseph Bagala is the only survivor of the crash. Police officers managed to pull him out of the vehicle and remains in stable condition in St Vincent’s Hospital, The Australian reports.