WATCH: Horror footage captures moment car swept from Hungry Jack’s drive-through
Terrifying footage shows the moment a car was swept away in floodwaters at a Hungry Jack’s restaurant drive-through on Brisbane’s northside. A Toowoomba woman died in the incident. SEE THE VIDEO
QLD News
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Terrifying footage has emerged of the moment a car was swept from a Brisbane Hungry Jack’s drive-through and into a nearby creek 200m away on Thursday night.
A 44-year-old woman from South Toowoomba sadly lost her life in the incident.
Emergency services were called to the scene on Cooyar St, off Gympie Rd at Aspley, just after 8pm following reports of a car stuck in floodwaters.
Police, ambulance and fire crews conducted an extensive search for the car before locating it at 11.15pm.
A 52-year-old Geebung man, who was the driver of the car, was able to get out of the vehicle on his own and was treated by QAS before being taken to Prince Charles Hospital in a stable condition.
His female passenger, however, was unable to escape and was found deceased inside the vehicle.
It’s understood the man and the woman were in a relationship.
Queensland Police Sergeant Mark Jones said the vehicle was swept away as it was exiting the Hungry Jack’s drive-through.
“As they were exiting the drive-through to go back on to Gympie Rd that part of that road was underwater so they’ve driven into the floodwater and the force of the floodwater has swept them into the creek,” Sgt Jones said.
“We had a significant amount of rain overnight…Little Cabbage Tree Creek was flooded at this stage that the vehicle entered into floodwater and has subsequently been swept into the creek.
“The male occupant was able to free himself and swim to an embankment”.
Sgt Jones said the man was now talking to police.
Investigations into the incident are ongoing and anyone with information is urged to come forward.
Cooyar St backs directly onto Little Cabbage Tree Creek that runs through Aspley.
Floodwaters inundated the area from 7pm on Thursday night causing road closures on Gympie Rd.
Dramatic footage taken in the minutes after the woman was swept away shows the extent of the flooding that drivers in the Hungry Jack’s carpark were confronted with.
The woman filming says the car went “all the way” down the creek and described the water as “rushing”.
A Hungry Jack’s spokesman said the company was “saddened at the news of the death of a woman near its restaurant at Aspley and extends its sympathy to family and friends”.
“The matter is currently being investigated by the police and Hungry Jack’s will assist as
requested,” he said.
A Brisbane man, who did not wish to be named, said his daughter was in a car behind the couple in the drive-through and saw the vehicle get swept away.
“She was pretty shook up last night and video-called me as it was happening and showed me,” he said.
The man said the floodwater had risen “very quickly” and his daughter would have also driven through the exit if he had not warned her against it.
“They were about to drive through as well as it was the only way out because of all the cars stuck behind them,” he said.
“But I was very stern to stay the hell out of the water and wait.”
Nearby resident Jim Williams said he was returning from his work Christmas party when he noticed the nearby creek was rising.
“I got off the bus at Westpac on Gympie Rd and I thought I could walk home… but by the time I got down to cross over at Hungry Jack’s it was pouring down,” Mr Williams said.
“I got soaked just trying to cross the road.”
Mr Williams said he had to take an alternative route home and walk on the “high side”.
“By the time I got home and changed and had dinner my wife saw flashing lights and the street was full (of emergency services),”Mr Williams said.
Mr Williams has lived in the same house for 40 years.
“I’ve only seen the flood water cross the road twice,” he said.
The other time was during the devastating 2011 floods.
Another resident, Barry Elliott, said he saw the tragedy unfold last night as well.
“They must have been pretty game, those divers that were swimming up and down the creek trying to save them,” he said.
Another local resident, who didn’t wish to be named, saw the rescue attempt.
“I got up at about 9 o’clock to have a shower and go to bed and I saw the flashing lights, spotlights and rubber dingy sort of things,” she said.
“There were two or three rescue crews, definitely two and I think one rescuer jumped out thinking he could touch… and he went straight under.”
“It just shows you never truly know how deep the flood water really is”.
Almost 90 calls for assistance were made to the SES overnight across Brisbane, Moreton and the Gold Coast by residents whose properties were damaged by heavy rainfall which fell during a series of storms on Thursday night.
Paramedics also responded to reports of two other vehicles being trapped in flood waters.
In Narangba, paramedics assessed a woman whose vehicle had become caught in floodwaters on Callaghan Road and Old Gympie Road at 11.10pm.
She was uninjured and did not need treatment.
A resident in Millmerran also phoned Triple-0 after finding a car on its roof in floodwaters off Millmerran Cecil Plains Road just after 12.30am.
A Queensland Ambulance Service spokeswoman said the occupants were able to escape and a man was assessed later at a private residence but he was uninjured.
The woman’s death comes after a 75-year-old Taringa woman sadly died in floodwaters on Wednesday night after her car was swept into a creek after heavy rain in Pullenvale.
It is the fourth flood-related death in Queensland in three weeks.
Police have urged motorists to always remember “if it’s flooded, forget it”.
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