Four dead after horror crash on New England Highway near Warwick

Four young backpackers who had only been in Australia for a matter weeks have been identified as those killed in a horrific crash near Stanthorpe on Wednesday afternoon, with police revealing the simple oversight that may have caused the deadly accident.

Police believe a simple driving error caused a horror crash that claimed the lives of four young women Wednesday evening.

Emergency services were called to the crash on the New England Hwy at the Sawmill Rd intersection at The Summit between Warwick and Stanthorpe at 5.30pm.

Early reports indicate the car was T-boned by the truck.

All four people inside the car died on impact. They were all Korean nationals in their early 20s.

The truck driver was taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries.

Four young women have been killed in a horror crash between a car and a truck near the Queensland-NSW border. Picture: 7News

Queensland Police Acting Chief Superintendent Ray Rohweder said investigors were looking at whether the driver had simply looked the wrong way before pulling out in front of the semi trailer.

“They are Korean nationals and as such they drive on the other side of the road to what we do here in Australia,” Supt Rohweder said.

“It’s not altogether uncommon for people to ... move back into what they’re used to and it could be that they have looked left and not right. But we may never know that’s the case.

“Our hearts really go out to the families of the four young ladies who were tragically killed in that crash and also with the driver of the semi trailer.”

Assistant Commissioner Mike Condon earlier said the accident was most likely the result of a tragic mistake.

“It was raining but it would appear this was a simple fail to give way and they moved out onto the highway and were struck on the driver’s side of the vehicle,” he said.

“The truck and the vehicle continued down the road until the truck stopped.

“We are talking to the Korean Consulate at the moment and working through the process (of informing the families)”

Four young women have been killed in a horror crash between a car and a truck near the Queensland-NSW border. Picture: 7News

The four Korean backpackers had only been in the country for a few weeks and had been living at the farm they were working on.”

Assistant Commissioner Condon acknowledged this is one of the many past road tragedies involving backpackers who are less likely to be aware of Australia’s road rules.

“It reinforces the issues we have with backpackers not understanding our road rules,” he said.

“We have a program where the Road Policing Unit works with the backpackers groups to reinforce the road rules.

“I want to get the message out there for all people to abide by the road rules, understand the road rules and be careful out there.”

All four women had been working at a nearby orchard when the crash occurred.

The women were deceased when emergency services arrived at the scene.

Acting Chief Superintendent Ray Rohweder said it would have been a very confronting scene for those who attended.

“Whilst everyone is enjoying Easter, it can be a terrible time of year for first responders,” he said.

“The emergency services crews that attended the tragic event yesterday afternoon will remember this for the rest of their lives, and unfortunately for those people, Easter will mean something very different from now than it does to the rest of the public.”

Four people have died in a crash on the New England Highway near Stanthorpe. Picture: 9 News

He urged motorists to drive to the conditions and travel safely this Easter long weekend, and even called on passengers to ensure drivers do the right thing.

“I’m calling on passengers in those motor vehicles across Easter to stay vigilant to what the driver is doing,” he said.

“If they observe the driver is tired or speeding or not driving to the conditions, the passenger should call that out and ask the driver to pull over or slow down.”

He warned drivers - especially those taking their 4WDs to Queensland’s beaches - to expect police officers to be patrolling beach and inland tracks.

“Our beaches are not an open licence to hoon,” Supt Rohweder said.

“What I can assure you is, if you have decided that you’re going to go and take your very nice 4WD to the beach...you are highly likely to come across the police and not just police in uniform.”