A young man has died after falling out of the back of a moving ute in an apparent illegal joy ride with friends east of Melbourne.
The ute was driving along Silbys Road in Darnum, a small town in West Gippsland, on Wednesday night when the 21-year-old Drouin man fell out of the tray.
Detectives say it appears four men and a woman, all aged in their 20s, were in or on the vehicle at the time.
It is believed one person was on the bonnet, two in the tray and another two in the cabin.
The young man was flown to hospital with life-threatening injuries but later died.
A 20-year-old Darnum woman was taken into custody but has been released without charge pending further investigation.
Police have spoken to other occupants of the ute and set up a crime scene, with major crash investigators expected to remain at the site for most of the day.
