The devastated family of a teenager who was fatally stabbed along with his 12-year-old friend has remembered the young boy for his kindness and “bright smile”.

Dau Akueng, 15, and his friend Chol, 12, were walking home from a basketball game when they were ambushed by a group of up to eight masked people wielding machetes and long-edged weapons, police said.

Both boys died after they were stabbed during the ambush in the northwest Melbourne suburb of Cobblebank, near Melton.

Dau’s devastated uncle has described the 15-year-old as an “annoying but loyal” and “caring” brother.

“He will be remembered for his bright smile, kindness, wit, and basketball and music talents,” Dau’s uncle wrote in a fundraiser.

“Dau’s unfair passing has left our family, his friends and community in despair.

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