Bruce Highway crash: Alleged car thief allegedly rammed motorist before crashing
The driver of a car stolen in a violent carjacking is the only survivor after he reportedly rammed a motorist and forced him into the path of a third vehicle, causing a catastrophic high-speed crash that killed three people.
The Bruce Highway north of Brisbane remains closed to all traffic after the three-car collision south of Gympie on Friday around 4am.
The driver of the stolen car was known to Queensland Police and was taken to hospital with serious head injuries and remains under police guard.
The crash occurred in Federal west of Noosa on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast
The vehicle was stolen in a violent daylight carjacking on Gympie’s high street 12 hours before the motorway accident on Thursday, police said.
A vehicle warning 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 robber, and she and her children were unharmed.
Police later spotted the stolen car, but the driver refused to pull over and fled.
There was no pursuit at the time of the accident.
Among the three victims are two women aged 25 and 38 and a 65-year-old man. All three died on the spot.
Superintendent Ben Fadian described it as a complex investigation and urged anyone who saw the stolen Isuzu to contact police.
“We are also appealing to anyone driving on the Bruce Highway between Federal and Noosa turnoff between 3am and 4am this morning who may have seen that vehicle to contact Crimestoppers,” said Det Supt Fadian.
Police have confirmed that one of the vehicles (pictured) involved in the accident was said to have been stolen from Gympie at around 4.30pm on Thursday.
“The tragedy is that three people have now died and the ripple effect that is having on their families.”
Nigel Jones, acting director of Queensland’s Sunshine Coast Ambulance Service, said it was a challenging event for all emergency services.
“Obviously the scene was quite confrontational given the mechanism of the forces involved – it was clearly a high speed incident involving those vehicles,” Mr Jones said.
“So much so that our paramedics report that the two patients died in a collision with a third patient, who sadly passed away shortly afterwards.”
Southbound lanes of the Bruce Highway are expected to be closed for an extended period of time and diversions are in place.
The forensic crash unit is investigating and no charges have been filed.
Three vehicles were involved in the horror crash at Federal. The police remain on site
The wreckage of a Nissan Navara ute involved in the crash crumbled against a barrier