Mum, four children dead in horrific crash near Kingaroy
Locals in the town of Kumbia have reacted with shock and sadness at the road horror that claimed a young family.
QLD News
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THE Hervey Bay community is mourning the loss of a woman and her four children in a horror head-on traffic crash overnight.
The crash, in which a truck and a car collided and caught on fire, occurred on the Bunya Highway near Kingaroy last night.
Police are still investigating, but it’s believed the accident occurred when the car pulled out to overtake a truck, and was then hit by an oncoming truck.
The driver, Charmaine Harris McLeod, 35, of Eli Waters at Hervey Bay, and three of her children, all aged under 10, were pronounced dead at the scene.
Another girl also travelling in the car was taken to Kingaroy Hospital in a critical condition before being flown to the Queensland Children’s Hospital.
The girl died during the flight.
LOCALS SLAM HAZARDOUS HIGHWAY
Locals in the town of Kumbia have reacted with shock and sadness at the fatal crash last night.
However, it isn’t the first time the Bunya Highway, which snakes through the locality, has claimed lives.
Kumbia farmer, Tracey Rayner, 47, said it was inevitable that there would be a fatal crash.
“The whole road from here to Bell and even Dalby is atrocious,” Ms Rayner said.
“It’s too narrow. I drove down that road yesterday.
“It’s a road you’ve gotta use to get to Toowoomba. I dread having to go that way all the time.”
She said someone was killed in the last two years.
“There’s been a few accidents,” she said.
“I think over the years there’s probably been heaps.”
Workers at the town’s 92-year-old butcher shop, Lenihan’s Butchery, said the news shocked them.
Butcher Bevon Fawcett said he’d never recalled a similar tragedy.
“The mood is pretty flat,” Mr Fawcett said.
“This would be the worst I’ve known of, and I’ve lived here for 27 years.
“There’s been accidents further south, on Boxing Day 15 years ago, but nothing like this.
“It’s wrong.”
South Burnett Regional Council Mayor Keith Campbell said he would wait for police to conclude their investigations as to the cause of the crash.
Cr Campbell said that while he would not draw judgement as to the causes of the crash, the alignment and geometry of the Bunya Highway required care.
He urged locals to take care on South Burnett roads, and said last night’s tragedy took the local road toll to eight lives in the past six weeks.
“Don’t take risks, exercise and pay attention to the road rules,” Cr Campbell said.
“We are all subject to the possibility of accident.”
He praised the work of firefighters, ambulance crews and police for their work on the night.
“Our deepest sympathies and regrets to the family, who have lost five of their own. Our heartfelt feelings to the truck drivers as well,” he said.
“Huge praise to our emergency services people who were on the scene as quickly as they possibly could be.
“Overall it’s just a very sad situation and very very regrettable.”
A Department of Main Roads and Transport spokeswoman said it would investigate the cause of the crash independently of the police.
“Police will investigate last night’s tragic crash on the Bunya Highway,” the spokesman said. “Every death or serious injury on our roads is one too many.”
The state department has responsible for the Bunya Highway.
TOP TRAFFIC COP MOVED
Queensland’s top traffic cop has described the crash as “terribly tragic”, saying every emergency services worker had a story to tell of horror on our roads.
“Unfortunately it happens far too often,” Road Policing Command Assistant Commissioner Mike Keating said.
“Every emergency services worker has a story to tell of having to face situations like this. It’s tragic and it’s personally very difficult to deal with.
“But I think the community acknowledges the tough job emergency services responders have and we are grateful for the support we get from the community.”
Mr Keating said crashes where entire families are killed were sadly not unheard of.
“It does happen and over the years you do see whole families killed. It is a tragic situation, terribly tragic,” he said.
“We are all real people and we all have our own families. Emergency services workers and police officers are dealing with people who are nearly them – who are members of their own community. They are dealing with members of their own community.”
Mr Keating urged people to take care on the roads, to ensure they look after their own safety and the safety of others.
“The important thing is, if you are driving, make sure you are in a situation where you are safe to drive and it is safe for other people,” he said.
“That you are in the best vehicle in terms of its safety and suitability to what you are doing and just do whatever you can to ensure your safety and the safety of other people.”
He said officers who attended last night’s crash had access to counselling services.
“I think it’s a real key point for our people – we say to them after an event like this, if you need some help, talk to somebody. You are a better person for speaking up and talking to people.”
He said police investigating the circumstances of the crash were preparing a report for the coroner.
Update: The Bunya Highway will remain closed for several hours. Motorists are advised to plan ahead with their journey and avoid the area.
— Queensland Police (@QldPolice) May 27, 2019
FIRST RESPONDERS FIND ‘CATASTROPHIC’ CRASH
Emergency services responded to the incident at Kumbia about 7.20pm.
A policeman at the scene described the accident to media as “catastrophic”.
“It’s certainly one of the worst accidents I’ve ever seen. It’s just a tragedy for everyone involved,” he told Channel 9.
Queensland Ambulance Service Assistant Commissioner Stephen Zsombok said first responders had described the accident as “very unsettling”.
“(First responders) explained the scene as tragic, extremely traumatic with people obviously involved in the car that’s caught fire.
“Smoke and fire … officers have gone through a dangerous scene to get to the child that they were able to work on.
“They’ve described it as very unsettling,” he said.
The 47-year-old driver of the truck was taken to Kingaroy Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
Senior sergeant Dave Tierney said because of the nature of the crash, the investigations would be ongoing, with police to speak with the truck drivers involved.
Snr Sgt Tierney said the police have finished investigations at the scene while the Department of Main Roads remain on scene.
The wreckage has been cleared and the Bunya Highway has reopened.
Additional reporting by Claudia Williams and Matthew Newton.
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