Army tank damaged, trucks, caravan destroyed in Bruce Hwy crash at Bajool

A former Big Brother winner has described hours-long detours after a multimillion-dollar army tank was blackened and multiple vehicles destroyed in a horror highway crash. NEW PHOTOS, VIDEOS.

A former Big Brother winner has revealed she was stuck in her car for 12 hours after a catastrophic crash in which an army tank was blackened and multiple vehicles were destroyed shut down the Bruce Highway.

It comes after a truck driver said he and many others are lucky to be alive after “madness” unfolded at Bajool, south of Rockhampton on Wednesday.

Both lanes of the highway opened around 1pm on Thursday afternoon, more than 24 hours after the crash closed the stretch between Rockhampton and Gladstone, causing chaos and four hours of extra travel for commuters.

The Bruce Highway reopened to a single lane of traffic on Thursday morning as work continued to clear and repair the road where the crash happened near Bajool. Photos: Geordi Offord

Motorists are still advised long delays are expected to and to delay travel if possible.

The detour route is more than three hours.

Crash on the Bruce Highway at Bajool on July 19, 2023. Picture: Supplied

The highway was cleared of all smashed vehicles at 9am on Thursday with bobcat doing works in the scrub on the sides of the road and skip bins full of debris loaded on the backs of trucks headed for Rockhampton.

Traffic was moving slowly through the one lane which has been reduced to 40km/h.

Biloela residents have reported the traffic has been crazy in their usually quiet neck of the woods as many commuters have had to take the one-and-a-half detour through the town.

Among those who took the detour was reality star Reggie Bird.

Winner of Big Brother season three Reggie Bird in a Facebook live on July 19, 2023.

“Oh man what a mission,” the former Big Brother winner said in her Facebook lives.

She posted to social media at 9pm that she had finally arrived at a camp stop near Hervey Bay after being on the road for 12 hours.

“Was a long day,” the post read.

“But we are safe, had a couple of close calls ourselves.

“Can’t stop thinking about the accident today.

“My heart goes out to all involved.”

‘Trucks flying everywhere’: How catastrophic crash unfolded

A truck driver says he and many others are lucky to be alive.

Speaking at the scene, where the badly damaged multimillion US Abrams tank and a trail of burnt and crushed trucks, caravans resembled a real battleground, Brisbane’s Michael Rowe said he was travelling from Narangba to Gracemere when he was “caught up in the middle of wide loads”.

“The pilots were letting people know to give them room because they’re so wide and all of a sudden, just braking, everyone was on the brakes heavy, and there were just trucks and whatnot flying everywhere and smashed up cars,” Mr Rowe said.

“I sort of ended up right in the middle of it all but I just avoided getting hit.

“I got out and rang the ambulance straight away and people were running around everywhere, a bit of madness.

“There were a lot of explosions. I didn’t know, I thought they were tyres at first just from the fire, because there was a big fire and that tree went up in flames.”

Naomi Wells told 9News she was behind the tanker when the crash unfolded.

A burnt-out Army tank at the Bajool crash, estimated to cost between $8 to $10 million.

"All of a sudden there was a massive explosion of fire, I called triple zero immediately," Ms Wells said.

"As I was talking to the emergency people there were at least four or five explosions that had been going off and they thought at the time it might have been the gas bottles in the caravan.

"After about the third or fourth, the popping became continuous and quite loud.

"Even the service personnel I was talking to actually said, 'Oh my gosh, I can hear that', like, 'Move back', so they were getting quite loud and consistent."

‘Never seen so much traffic on rural highway’

Rockhampton Morning Bulletin reporter Darryn Nufer walked many kilometres to get to the scene after it was closed off.

He explained that just before the southern end of the 500m exclusion zone police had set up, off to the left of the highway was a “rest area” where vehicles were able to park.

There were no facilities there -just flat ground and some shade from a few trees, but numerous people towing caravans had pulled in here, and rather than turn around, they were going to “camp” there for the night.

One elderly couple (who had a caravan) was taking their dog for a walk around the area and were staying there for the night.

A car that had pulled off to the left-hand side of the highway had a woman sitting on the roof - she had just opened a bottle of beer and was enjoying that with the benefit of some afternoon shade from trees on the side of the highway.

“A man who was with her was also drinking a beer - I joked to them that the situation was ‘OK for some’ but the woman replied that these were the only two cold beers they had,” Darryn said.

“At that stage, they were waiting to see if the highway would reopen to get through.”

It was a 335km drive from the crash scene to get back to north Rockhampton and the only way through was back to Calliope and then via Biloela.

“I’ve never seen so much traffic on the rural highway between Biloela and Dululu.

“This highway is not very wide for the majority, so at night, it was slower going because it’s a highway that’s not really made for your B-doubles and trucks of that sort (they usually travel the Bruce Hwy)”.

DETOURS:

Light vehicles: Dawson Highway (Calliope-Biloela), Burnett Highway (Biloela-Dululu), Leichhardt Highway (Dululu-Westwood) and Capricorn Highway (Westwood-Rockhampton).

Heavy vehicles: Dawson Highway (Calliope-Banana), Leichhardt Highway (Banana-Westwood), Capricorn Highway (Westwood-Rockhampton) (see map).

A firefighter at near Bajool, after a collision between seven vehicles, including a semi-trailer carrying a US military tank that was to be used in war games. Photo: Queensland Police Service via AFP

SIX TAKEN TO HOSPITAL, THREE WITH SPINAL INJURIES

The tank was to be involved in the 10th iteration of Exercise Talisman Sabre – the largest Australia-US bilateral military training exercise – which runs from July 22 to August 4.

Six people were hospitalised, three with suspected spinal injuries, after the crash which occurred at 11:25am near Bajool.

On Thursday, one person was reported to be in a stable condition in Rockhampton, while another was in a stable condition in Gladstone. The others have been discharged from hospital.

“It was amazing nothing happened to me, I was all pretty good,” Mr Rowe said.

Scenes of the multi-vehicle crash at Bajool on Wednesday.

“I was amazed he got out of it … His daughter and wife were in there, and it looked terrible, he’s pretty lucky to be around, I reckon,” Mr Rowe said.

“That truck driver that was in front of me he’s alright too.”

According to police, officers arrived at the scene to find three vehicles on fire and another four extensively damaged, including B-double truck, a semi-trailer (carrying the military tank), a flat-bed truck carrying two caravans, three cars and a 4WD towing a caravan.

Crash on the Bruce Highway at Bajool on July 19, 2023. Picture: Supplied

It’s understood police will investigate whether another driver failed to give way to the oversized truck, which was carrying the tank and being driven by a civilian with the support of escorts.

One witness claimed the truck passed over a bridge with a narrow passageway at Bob’s Creek when it collided with another truck, causing the pileup.

Three of the vehicles then caught on fire as a result of the smashes and fuel in the air, which led to multiple explosions and grass fires spreading to the sides of the highway.

Traffic heading north and south of Rockhampton are being diverted through Biloela.

Multiple explosions were heard at the scene at Comino Road, Bajool and a major exclusion zone put in place.

Up to 15 Queensland Fire and Emergency Services vehicles were at the scene as are military police.

BLACK SMOKE BILLOWING FROM SCENE

Speaking from the scene as it was being cleared, QFES Superintendent John Pappas said his crews worked with rural fire volunteers to get the fire under control as it spread to grassland and the rail corridor.

Crash on the Bruce Highway at Bajool on July 19, 2023. Picture: Suplied

“It has been quite a difficult fire to combat today, due to the location, hampered with a lack of water, two semi-trailers involved with fire, as well as fuel from vehicles, it has taken a number of hours to render the area safe,” he said.

Black smoke could be seen billowing from quite a distance as the fire blazed through the middle of the day.

“The amount of black smoke that was being produced is consistent with the amount of fuel that was involved,” Mr Pappas said.

Smashed 4WD and caravan from the scene of the Bruce Highway crash at Bajool.

Miraculously there were no significant injuries or anyone trapped in their vehicles, leaving the fire crews to solely focus on the fire, Mr Pappas said.

“The scene had spread out over a significant distance and it is quite remarkable that people have survived the impact and fire today,” he said.

“It has been a unique incident, with the type of vehicles and amount of vehicles that have been on fire.”

TANK FROM EXERCISE TALISMAN SABRE 2023

More than 30,000 military personnel from 13 nations will directly participate in Exercise Talisman Sabre 2023 (TS23) at a number of locations, including both Defence and non-Defence training areas.

Military police have arrived on scene of the multi-vehicle crash at Bajool.

Soldiers from Comanche Company, 4th Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Armoured Brigade Combat Team and 1st Armoured Division arrived at the Port of Gladstone and offloaded M1 Abrams tanks from a ship on July 14 and 15.

The soldiers then prepared the tanks to be taken to the Townsville Field Training Area, about 60km southwest of Townsville, where the unit will participate in Exercise Talisman Sabre alongside the Australian Army’s 7th Brigade.

It is the first time US Army tanks and the 1st Armoured Division have participated in Talisman Sabre, which kicks off this weekend mostly throughout Queensland as well as in some other select areas around the country.

The tanks, which arrived on the US Logistics Naval vessel, Bob Hope, will be operated by soldiers from the 1st Armoured Division throughout the training exercise.

A Department of Defence spokesman said they were “aware” of the crash and would “provide support as required”.

The scene is located about 20kms south of Rockhampton, between the Kart Club and Kangaroo Country Caravan Park.