An innocent taxi driver killed when a car on the wrong side of a highway crashed into his vehicle has been remembered as a funny and kind dad.
Father-of-three Sendeku Tesema, 58, was driving two passengers home from Perth airport on Monday morning, when the driver of a Toyota RAV4 is thought to have deliberately crossed the centre line on the Leach Highway, according to police.
The two women in the backseat aged 81 and 56 were a mother and daughter returning home from a holiday.
All three died in the fiery head-on collision.
The driver of the Toyota RAV4 also died on impact.
Mr Tesema’s wife was so distraught at the devastating news that she required an ambulance.
Their 18-year-old daughter said that her dad ‘was loved by all’.
‘He was the funniest, most caring man. Our condolences go out to all of the other families affected,’ Eyerusalem Sendeku Achamyeleh told Seven News.

Taxi driver Sendeku Tesema was killed in a fiery crash on Perth’s Leach Highway on Monday
The tragedy has rocked the local taxi industry.
‘He’s a kind person. He’s not mean,’ fellow taxi driver Setegn Abate said.
‘Everyone if they say ‘I don’t have anything’, he helped everyone.’
The pair met as they normally did at the international airport taxi rank at 2am on Monday and spoke on the phone throughout their shifts, as was their routine.
Mr Abate knew something was wrong when the contact suddenly stopped.
‘So after 45 minutes when I tried to call him, he (didn’t answer) me. The phone was off.
‘I called him like nine times.’
Fellow driver Toli Wakli added: ‘It’s shocking for the taxi industry and for all of us.’
‘It’s a big loss.’

Eyerusalem Sendeku Achamyeleh (pictured left) said her father (right) was loved by everyone
The Toyota RAV4 was travelling on the wrong side of the Leach Highway in Cloverdale near Perth Airport when it collided head-on into the taxi at about 3.40am.
Police later revealed that the Toyota RAV4 driver made a ‘conscious decision’ to drive on the wrong side of the highway, which is laned and separated by a centre wall.
Detective Senior Sergeant Hugh Le Tessier told reporters the man had driven erratically through nearby suburbs before entering the highway by going up an off-ramp in the wrong direction.
Why the driver did this was not explained.
‘That’s probably something we will never know. I can only … report on the facts as we know it,’ Detective Le Tessier said.

The aftermath of the horror crash on the Leach Highway near Perth Airport that claimed four lives
‘We know what happened, and our investigation is now focusing on why, but I can’t answer that at this stage.’
Despite the ‘very fierce’ fire engulfing the Toyota RAV4, police managed to retrieve dashcam footage from the wreckage that detail the vehicle’s final movements.
The impact of the crash wasn’t captured.
‘The RAV4 was completely engulfed in flames, so to retrieve the dashcam is certainly something that we’re very happy to have done,’ Detective Le Tessier said.
‘The files on that SD card indicate he was driving through the streets of Belmont and Cloverdale prior to the incident, and he was driving well in excess of the posted speed limit.’
Detective Le Tessier said the accident was ‘very confronting’ and ‘almost the most horrific incident you could attend as … the police officer in a road crash scenario’.

Emergency services rushed to Leach Highway following reports of the head-on collision

Four people died in the fiery crash after a Toyota RAV4 travelling on the wrong side of the road collided head-on a taxi and burst into flames (pictured)
‘It’s such a tragic event for that family — not just for that family who’ve lost a mother and daughter … there’s four families who have been impacted by this,’ he said.
Following the crash, shocking pictures were shared on social media showing a car engulfed in flames and the other vehicle wrecked.
A 2.5km stretch of the Leach Highway was closed for five hours on Monday as major crash investigators examined the scene and gathered debris.
Police urge witnesses or anyone with relevant footage to contact Crime Stoppers.
At least six people have already died on WA roads in the first two weeks of 2025.