A father and his children, as well as the child of a family friend, were killed in a hit-and-run incident on Friday night shortly after they were involved in a separate accident that left a woman dead. 

Theuns Lubbe, 39, his two children, Tristen, 8, and Amory, 4, and the family friend's child Juliana Gomez, 6, were struck down by a Ford Ranger bakkie close to the wreck of Lubbe's Chery QQ3 that had rolled moments before, fatally injuring his wife and mother of the Lubbe children, Elmarie, 38. 

The family and Juliana were on their way home in the Chery to their home in Allanridge in the Free State after a braai at Theuns' place of employment.

According to Theuns' cousin, Neels Lubbe from Welkom, the couple and children left the function early.

"Theuns' boss offered him another beer but he told him he wanted to get the kids home," Neels told News24 on Monday.

At some point, Theuns lost control of the vehicle and it rolled several times.

Following the accident, Theuns and the children managed to get out of the wreck, Neels said. 

"[Theuns] placed an emergency triangle in the road and he and the children were standing in the veld by the side of the road. Then a Ford Ranger approached the scene from the direction of Welkom and struck Theuns and the three children, killing them instantly."

'Blood everywhere'

According to Neels, the bakkie dragged Theuns and the three children for about 50 metres. 

"There was blood everywhere. [The driver] then exited the bakkie behind and ran away," Neels said. The bakkie has a North West number plate. 

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"Theuns was like a son to me," Neels said. "Our families were very close. We are heartbroken." 

"When he was down and out, I helped him with a place to live and bought him a car.

"His children meant everything to him. I know he would have done anything to avoid this from happening. It must have happened very quickly." 

Neels said Theuns recently found employment at JBL Construction at Harmony mine's Eland shaft. "Things were starting to go very well for him." 

According to Neels, Juliana had been staying with the Lubbes for two weeks while her mother, Anna Engelbrecht, was in hospital. Engelbrecht had been undergoing treatment until Friday. The next morning, she was informed that her child had died. 

"Juliana really wanted to go to the braai with the Lubbe family, so her mother said she would fetch her on Saturday." 

Police looking for driver

The SA Police Service's Captain Ansie Venter, who was on the scene of the accident, confirmed the sequence of events to News24. 

"It has not yet been established what caused the Chery to roll," Venter said. 

Venter said the Ford Ranger is registered to a person who lives in Stilfontein in the North West. "We are still trying to establish who was driving the bakkie at the time of the incident," Venter said. 

The police investigation is continuing, Venter said.