A young nurse on her way to a wedding was killed when a former police officer crashed his Audi at full speed into the back of her car in a Brisbane tunnel.
Lily Galbraith, 24, was in the passenger seat of a sedan driven by her friend Emma McLean, who is in a critical condition in hospital, when the horrific crash happened at around 3pm on Wednesday.
Witnesses reported seeing former police officer Bruce Daley, aged in his 50s, stop his black Audi convertible at the entrance to the Legacy Way tunnel, rev the engine and then take off at speeds of up to 200 km/h shortly before the crash.
Ms Galbraith was originally from the Northern Territory and had worked as a nurse at Flinders Private Hospital in South Australia.
He regularly appeared on his friend Ms McLean’s social media feeds.
McLean, 23, is from Adelaide and had recently gotten engaged to her boyfriend after a five-year relationship. She underwent surgery at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital on Wednesday night.
Lily Galbraith (left) died after a former police officer driving an Audi convertible crashed into the back of a car she was traveling in. Her friend Emma McLean (right) is in critical condition.
The black Audi convertible crashed into the car the two girls were traveling in (pictured), which then collided with a truck in the Legacy Way tunnel in Brisbane on Wednesday afternoon.
Daley was retired from the Queensland Police Service for medical reasons in 2014.
He had mentioned his mental health problems in worrying online posts that included references to loneliness and suicide.
When asked if the former police officer’s mental state would be the focus of the investigation, Acting Detective Inspector Chris Hansel told media he could not refrain from commenting on specific details.
‘I cannot comment on exact scenarios at this time. As you can see, it is a very complex investigation, a very conflictive scene that our first responders and the public experienced last night,” he said.
“It would once again be irresponsible of me to propose a specific scenario without a full investigation having been conducted.”
Mr Daley died in the accident.
Debris from the crash between Mr Daley’s Audi, the other sedan and a truck was scattered for hundreds of meters inside the tunnel at Mount Coot-Tha.
Daley was heading north through the tunnel when he collided with the sedan which then crashed into a truck.
A witness stated that the Audi was traveling at a speed of 200 km/h just a few seconds before colliding with the sedan, the mail reported.
Former police officer Bruce Daley (pictured) also died in the horrific crash.
The former police officer poses in his black Audi convertible in November 2016.
Daley was heading north through the tunnel in a black Audi S3 that witnesses said was traveling at speeds of up to 200 km/h.
“I was driving behind the Audi… for some reason (the driver) slowed down and stopped as we entered the tunnel,” the witness said.
‘(The driver) did not indicate or pose dangers… I indicated around him and kept going… some people whistled at him.’
The witness then heard a “roar of the car engine” as the Audi passed “at 200 km/h past me in the tunnel”, and then, about 20 seconds later, “smoke and debris were flying around”.
The speed limit in the Legacy Way tunnel is 80 km/h.
Another witness said: “I was right behind this when it happened.”
“The vehicle pictured was directly in front of me and accelerated rapidly just past the first radar heading east until it was out of sight.”
Photos from the crash scene showed how ferocious the impact of the crash was, with the Audi virtually destroyed.
Daley (pictured) is understood to have left Queensland Police 10 years ago.
The collision closed the city tunnel with entry and exit lanes closed for more than two hours during rush hour.
Queensland Police Acting Inspector Stephen Crabbe described the accident scene as “extensive” on Wednesday.
“Police are appealing for information in relation to a black Audi s3 that may have been traveling northbound on the Centenary Highway through the Legacy Way tunnel,” he said at a news conference.