Two 16-year-old boys died when a stolen grey BMW left Railway Parade in Bullsbrook, north-east of Perth, struck several trees and caught fire late Saturday, Western Australia Police said Sunday.
Commissioner Col Blanch confirmed the sedan had been reported stolen on the same night as the crash, which occurred about 10:20 p.m. The driver and front-seat passenger, both 16, died at the scene. Two 17-year-olds in the rear survived with non-life-threatening injuries and were taken to Royal Perth Hospital.
What police have confirmed
Major crash investigators remained at the roadside Sunday, mapping skid marks and debris spread along a stretch of Bullsbrook that mixes rural acreage with commuter links toward Perth’s northern suburbs. Blanch said speed was "almost certainly a factor," citing the severity of damage and reports the car rolled onto its roof before the fire spread into roadside brush.
Forensic teams will treat the fire as part of the reconstruction, not a separate incident, because heat damage can erase evidence about whether brakes or steering failed before the trees were hit. That work runs alongside interviews with the hospitalized passengers, who police say are cooperating but remain under clinical care.
He stressed that the theft report did not lessen the human loss. "This breaks all of our hearts," he told reporters, adding that families, the wider community and first responders would carry the image of the wreck for a long time. Police have appealed for dash-cam, CCTV or mobile footage from anyone who was near Railway Parade around the crash window.
Survivors and possible charges
Blanch said it was too early to say whether the surviving passengers would face charges. Investigators will first reconstruct how the group entered the vehicle, whether anyone else was involved in the theft, and how the BMW moved from the theft report to Railway Parade within roughly an hour.
Youth driving deaths remain a persistent pressure point for WA road policy. Regional corridors around Perth often see higher speeds and fewer traffic controls than inner suburbs, and stolen-car joyrides combine property crime with disproportionate fatality risk when trees or poles sit close to the pavement.
What happens next
Police will prepare a report for the coroner while crash analysts download any available electronic data from the BMW if fire damage allows. Victim support teams have been assigned to the families of the dead boys, whose names police had not released Sunday pending next-of-kin notification.
Blanch urged anyone with information about the theft or the minutes before the crash to contact Crime Stoppers. Even partial clips, he said, could show whether other vehicles were racing or whether the BMW was being followed — details that rarely emerge until the public sees how violent the final seconds on Railway Parade became.