Majaliwa Kizumba, 39, his wife, and their baby daughter were killed early Sunday morning when their all-wheel-drive slammed into a large gum tree on the Casterton-Penola Road at Lake Mundi, near the South Australian border.

The two surviving children, a boy aged 9 and a girl, 3, were airlifted to the Royal Children’s Hospital with injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening.

Grief-stricken family members and church leaders travelled to Melbourne on Sunday to be with the children.

The family — who were part of Mount Gambier’s tight-knit Congolese community and had escaped a troubled life — settled in Mount Gambier in 2013.

It is understood the family had flown into Tullamarine airport from Queensland early Sunday before attempting to make the trip to Mount Gambier.

Migrant Resource Centre of South Australia chief executive officer Eugenia Tsoulis said the organisation was offering support to the grieving family.

She said the family and the extended Congolese community were “traumatised” by the sudden loss.

“This is a very big tragedy for a very new community,” Ms Tsoulis said.

She said the accident was heartbreaking given the community had braved danger and refugee camps to find peace and freedom.

“They had escaped danger and came to Australia to watch their children grow up in peace — now that’s never going to happen,” she said, adding the Mount Gambier Congolese community — which represented up to 200 people — was tight-knit.

Ms Tsoulis said the Migrant Resource Centre would work with the family regarding preparations for the funeral, care of the two children and language barriers during this time.

People can donate money for the funeral or the family through the Migrant Resource Centre.

Meanwhile, Mount Gambier North School principal Jane Turner yesterday expressed her deep sympathy to the family and the wider Congolese community.

“It is a very tragic situation, we now have two orphaned children,” Ms Turner said.

She said the family was well-known in the school community and the young boy was in junior primary at the school. Ms Turner said the pupil,  and his father, was a vibrant and energetic member of the school community.

Explaining the family had come from a refugee camp, she said they had finally found some self-determination and a better life.

“They were enthusiastic and really wanted to make the best of living in Australia after living a troubled life in a refugee camp,” Ms Turner said.

                                                                                          ?— The Border Watch