Four people lose their lives in most deadly March long weekend in a decade

A series of tragic accidents has seen the state set a grim long weekend milestone.

Four people have been killed in vehicle crashes across the state over the long weekend, making it one of the most deadly since 2006.

An 18-year-old man from Aldinga Beach became the latest fatality after he crashed his Toyota Corolla into a tree on Pages Flat Road at Myponga.

Police said the accident happened just before 10pm on Sunday.

In the last five years a total of six people have lost their lives in crashes on the long weekend.

Crash statistics show the last multiple fatalities over the March long weekend was in 2012 when two people died.

The majority of those who have lost their lives have been driving on rural, regional or remote roads.

Horrific and confronting images from a head-on truck and ute collision at Wirraminna in the state’s Far North. Picture: Mike Lorigan/Channel 9

Just after midday on Saturday a road train and ute collided on a causeway on a remote stretch of the Stuart Highway between Pimba and Glendambo. The driver of the ute, a 23-year-old from the ACT, and the passenger in the truck, a 57-year-old woman from Para Vista, both died at the scene.

The force of the crash destroyed both the truck and the ute and left the truck driver with serious injures.

Horrific and confronting images from a head-on truck and ute collision at Wirraminna in the state’s Far North. Picture: Mike Lorigan/Channel 9

Engineers from the Department of Planning Transport and Infrastructure were sent up to the evaluate the section of the Highway which is one of the main routes between South Australia and the Northern Territory.

The raised section of road was heavily damaged following the crash which caused hundreds of litres of burning diesel to spread across the causeway where it seeped into pipes underneath the road, causing them to melt.

The result was the road was severely cracked, forcing its closure to both directions of traffic. Police initially reported that the road could remain closed for as long as week but an Infrastructure Department spokesman said a temporary solution had been found which allowed the road to reopen to all traffic.

Horrific and confronting images from a head-on truck and ute collision at Wirraminna in the state’s Far North. Picture: Mike Lorigan/Channel 9

The damaged bridge on the Stuart Highway where a truck and car collided and burst into flames. Picture: SA Police

“The Stuart Highway has reopened to all traffic between Glendambo and Pimba, following temporary repair works to a section of road damaged during a vehicle accident at Wirraminna,” he said.

“Speed restrictions are in place around Wirraminna.”

Only hours after the crash, at about 6pm, a 26-year-old Campbelltown man was killed when a ute rolled on a property in Lindley, near Morgan, in the Riverland.

The man, who was a passenger in the ute, died despite police officers providing CPR.

The driver, a 29-year-old Athelstone man, and two other passengers, a 34-year-old Tanunda man and a 29-year-old Klemzig man were flown to Adelaide for treatment.

The crash was not counted in the state’s lives lost on SA roads tally, as it occurred on a private property.

In a separate crash, a motorcyclist remains in a critical condition following a crash in the South-East.

The 63-year-old Kongorong rider was injured when he crashed on an unnamed access road off of Bannisters Road in Kongorong at 5.50pm on Saturday.

The death of the 18-year-old takes the road toll to 21 compared to 18 at this time last year.