Accident on Bruce Highway: Suspected car thief allegedly rammed motorist prior to accident
The driver of a car stolen in a violent carjacking is the sole survivor after allegedly ramming a motorist into the path of a third vehicle, leading to a catastrophic high-speed crash that killed three people.
The Bruce Highway north of Brisbane remains closed to all traffic after a three-car collision south of Gympie around 4am on Friday.
The driver of the stolen car was known to Queensland Police and was taken to hospital with serious head injuries and remains under police watch.
The accident occurred in Federal west of Noosa on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
The vehicle had been stolen 12 hours before the highway crash in a violent daylight carjacking on the main street of Gympie on Thursday, police said.
A vehicle alert was issued after a man armed with a knife threatened a mother and her three children as the family got into the Isuzu MU-X.
The terrified mother removed her children from the vehicle before handing the car over to the thief, and she and her children were unharmed.
Later, the police saw the stolen car, but the driver refused to stop and escaped.
He was not being followed at the time of the accident.
The three victims are two women, ages 25 and 38, and a 65-year-old man. All three died on the spot.
Detective Superintendent Ben Fadian described it as a complex investigation and asked anyone who saw the stolen Isuzu to contact police.
“We also appeal to anyone who was driving on the Bruce Highway between Federal and Noosa this morning between 3 am and 4 am and may have seen that vehicle to contact Crimestoppers,” Superintendent Fadian said.
Police have confirmed that one of the vehicles (pictured) involved in the accident was allegedly stolen from Gympie at around 4:30pm on Thursday.
“The tragedy is that there are now three people dead and the ripple effect it has on their families.”
Queensland Ambulance Service Sunshine Coast Acting Director Nigel Jones said it was a challenging event for all emergency services.
“Obviously, the scene was quite contentious given the mechanism of the forces involved: it was clearly a very high-speed incident involving those vehicles,” Jones said.
“So much so that our paramedics report that the two patients died on impact and a third patient sadly passed away shortly thereafter.”
The southbound lanes of Bruce Highway are expected to be closed for an extended period and detours have been implemented.
The crash forensics unit is investigating and no charges have been filed.
Three vehicles were involved in the horrifying accident in Federal. Police remain on the spot
The wreckage of a Nissan Navara ute involved in the crash collapsed against a barrier
