A FIFTH teenager pulled out of a camping trip just before four of his friends were killed in a horrific crash, friends have claimed.
Friends Jevon Hirst, 16, Harvey Owen, 16, Wilf Fitchett, 17, and Hugo Morris, 18, went missing during a trip to Snowdonia at the weekend.
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Shrewsbury Abbey in Shropshire where people pay their respects Credit: SWNS
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Harvey Owen died in a horrific accident with three friends
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A tribute to Wilf Fitchett and his friends has arrived Credit: WNS
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Jevon Hirst traveled from the Welsh coastal area of HarlechCredit: WNS
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Hugo Morris and the teenagers stopped to buy supplies just before the accident
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North Wales Police said officers were continuing to carry out a thorough search of the areaCredit: Dan Jones Images
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The timeline before the horror accident
A frantic search was launched on Tuesday for the boys and their silver Ford Fiesta after they failed to return home.
Officers then tragically found the car partially submerged in water and on its roof while searching the Porthmadog area – and four bodies were confirmed to have been found.
Now a friend of Hugo’s has revealed that a fifth friend had planned to go on the trip – but backed out at the last minute.
Mimi Ropotka, 35, who worked with Hugo at Pret a Manger in Shrewsbury, told The Telegraph: “He can’t believe he’s lost a friend so suddenly and tragically.”
Ms Ropokta says the friend is now in a “very bad condition”.
Meanwhile, a local farmer said the group was “so unfortunate” to be hit by the “brutal” conditions.
Cary Williams lives just 25 meters from where the four bodies were found.
She told The Mirror: “They must have been going north from Harlech towards Snowdonia. This is one of the two paths they could take.
“There are no traces on the road, you can’t see anything. It’s a sharp bend, it tapers. There were a lot of leaves on that corner. There have been one or two accidents there before.”
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All the boys attended a school in Shropshire which was already mourning the loss of two more pupils.
Alfie McCormick, 18, and Ben Worrall, 17, died within days of each other just weeks ago and the local priest said the school community was still grieving.
Reverend Charlotte Gompertz, vicar of the church in Shrewsbury, said: “It’s a huge sixth form college where all the people here go round.
“They’ve had some tragedies in the last few months and this will be devastating for them.
“There have been two deaths recently, a motorcycle accident and a suicide.”
It comes after witnesses said the boys were happy and laughing as they bought supplies of coal and pasta for their camping trip at a shop in Harlech.
The group stopped at Premier Foods around noon on Sunday as they began their fateful journey into the mountains minutes before their phones stopped sending and receiving messages.
Shop owner Lucy Jones told The Sun: “They were happy, laughing and joking.
“They were arguing, saying ‘I can’t afford this, I can’t afford that. But everyone seemed to be in really good spirits.”
Police fear the horrific accident happened shortly after the boys left one of their grandfather’s homes – just eight miles away – on Saturday night.
It wasn’t until 3.10pm on Monday – more than 24 hours later – that police were told the boys were missing.
Tragically, on Tuesday, a passerby spotted the car and the bodies were found – meaning they may have been trapped upside down in the vehicle for 48 hours.
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Flowers and Tributes at Shrewsbury College’s English Bridge Campus Credit: SWNS
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