The owner of a farm where four teenage boys died in a car crash in North Wales says they were "so unlucky".
Sixth form students Jevon Hirst, Harvey Owen, Wilf Fitchett and Hugo Morris were found dead in their crashed silver Ford Fiesta, on the edge of Snowdonia National Park, on Tuesday.
A major two-day search was launched after the boys were reported missing by their worried families, from Shrewsbury in Shropshire, having failed to return home from a camping trip on Monday.
The car is understood to have veered off the A4058 at Garreg, near Tremadog, and was found on its roof and partially submerged in water.
Rhys Williams, a farmer who lives close to where the car was discovered, said weather conditions were "brutal" on Sunday when the friends are thought to have gone missing, and are said to have lost contact with their families.
Mr Williams told The Mirror it was a waste collection man in a recycling lorry that discovered the wrecked car on Tuesday morning.
"They were higher up, that's why they could see them," he said. "The binman told us they had phoned the police.
"It is only 25 metres around the corner from here. I could see the car but I didn't see anything else.
"They must have been going from Harlech north towards Snowdonia. This is one of two roads they could have taken.
"There are no tracks on the road, nothing to be seen. It's a sharp bend, it narrows. There were lots of leaves on that corner. There have been one or two accidents there before."
Mr Williams told The Mirror he had passed the scene of the crash before the binman, without spotting the car.
"You have got to be in a high vehicle to see anything and you have got to be looking, a passenger," he said. "The driver would have been looking at the road.""They were so unlucky, the way the car went in," he added. "It has gone into the ditch, low into the ditch. It's a small car.He said some phone networks receive no signal in the area where the boys crashed.
"On Sunday the water was high. It is brutal on Sunday. There's always a foot or two of water in the ditch but it can come up to six feet. They were so unlucky."
North Wales Police said it is currently treating the crash as a "tragic accident".
Superintendent Owain Llewellyn confirmed on Wednesday a "detailed search of the area where the car was found" was being carried out, including underwater search experts from the North West Underwater Search Team.
The boys' families, friends, and community in Shropshire have expressed profound grief over the tragedy.
Crystal Owen, 17-year-old Harvey’s mother, said: “I feel like I’m in a nightmare I wish I could wake up from but I’m not.
“I just wanted to say I do appreciate people’s kindness but no amount of messages is going to help me overcome this. Nothing will make this nightmare go away.”
Staff at the Dough and Oil restaurant where Harvey worked also paid tribute to him.
In a post on Instagram, they described him as “easy-going, warm, funny, gentle, bright, hardworking and humble”.
“He gave it his all, developing a passion for dough and had dreams of one day opening his own bakery,” they said.
“Before shifts, or on his break, you’d often find him listening to music or his head in a book – unusually for his age enjoying the likes of The Doors and Jack Kerouac, always keen to chat and discover something new.
“Our love, thoughts and condolences go out to Harvey’s family and to those of his friends, their lives full of promise cut so tragically short.”
Maddi Corfield, the girlfriend of 17-year-old Wilf, posted a tribute online, writing: “I love you so much, I’m going to miss you forever.
“The sweetest and most loving boy I’ve ever known. I hope you know how much I love you, gorgeous. Thank you for all the time you’ve spent with me… thank you for loving me endlessly. I promise I’ll do the same for you, my sweet, sweet angel.”
She added: “I can’t imagine my world without you. I’m missing you so much already, but I am going to enjoy life the way you would’ve wanted, the way that you made me feel.”
Shrewsbury Colleges Group, where the boys were A-level students, offered “deepest condolences to the family and friends” of the teenagers and said it had put in place a range of support measures to help those affected.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sent his condolences to the families, telling the Commons on Wednesday: “I know the thoughts of the whole House will be with the family and friends of the four teenagers who died in a car accident in North Wales.”
