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East Toowoomba crash: Teenage girl reveals moment after vehicle split in two as best friend fights for life

A teenage girl injured in a horror crash in Toowoomba’s inner-city suburbs on Saturday has revealed the circumstances leading up to the incident. It comes as her best friend fights for life in hospital.

Scene of Toowoomba crash

One of the girls involved in a shocking crash in Toowoomba’s eastern suburbs on Saturday morning has recalled the moment she found her best friend lying in the street minutes after the incident.

The 18-year-old Toowoomba girl was one of three people hospitalised in the horror crash on Mackenzie Street in East Toowoomba just after midnight, which left the car they were in split in half from the impact.

The driver, a 20-year-old male, and the back seat passenger, an 18-year-old girl, were left in critical conditions.

Scene of car crash in Mackenzie St in East Toowoomba. After hitting a tree the Ford sedan then hit a skip. Saturday, March 25, 2023. Picture: Nev Madsen.
Scene of car crash in Mackenzie St in East Toowoomba. After hitting a tree the Ford sedan then hit a skip. Saturday, March 25, 2023. Picture: Nev Madsen.

The man was flown to hospital in Brisbane on Saturday morning, while the girl was also taken to hospital in Brisbane later that day.

Police are investigating the cause of the crash.

The teen, who did not wish to be named, told The Chronicle she and her friend were only in the car because the driver had offered them a lift home from a CBD pub.

She confirmed the car belonged to the man.

“We met him at the (venue), and he offered to take us home,” she said.

Police said initial investigations suggested the blue 2007 Ford Fairmont was heading northbound on Mackenzie Street when it left the road and crashed into a tree.

The victim said they was just a couple of blocks away from her home when the incident happened.

A teenage girl (left, with relative in hospital) has recalled the moment she found her best friend (right) shortly after they were the passengers in a horrific crash on Mackenzie Street in East Toowoomba.
A teenage girl (left, with relative in hospital) has recalled the moment she found her best friend (right) shortly after they were the passengers in a horrific crash on Mackenzie Street in East Toowoomba.

“(Once we stopped) I sat there, woke up and started screaming (my friend’s) name,” she said.

The girl said the vehicle was in pieces, with the floor underneath the back seats missing and her friend not inside.

“The car was literally squished and the back was squeezed in between the skip bin – I couldn’t see her in the car, the floor wasn’t there,” she said.

“I saw her lying down on the ground (on the road), moaning with pain – she couldn’t move, couldn’t talk.

“It looked like she’d been run over.”

The girl said she had passed out from the sight before waking up in hysterics and being treated by paramedics.

She said her friend was like a sister, saying they had a close relationship.

Police confirmed on Sunday morning the forensic crash unit was continuing its investigation into the incident.

Originally published as East Toowoomba crash: Teenage girl reveals moment after vehicle split in two as best friend fights for life

Original URL: https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/toowoomba/east-toowoomba-crash-teenage-girl-reveals-moment-after-vehicle-split-in-two-as-best-friend-fights-for-life/news-story/8374f601a8feadb247884ee416a560d8