Man dies in fiery Bruce Hwy crash near Cardwell

A man has died in a horrific fiery crash on the Bruce Highway in what police have described as being a “high impact” collision.

A man has died in a crash on the Bruce Highway, south of Cardwell.

A MAN has died in a horrific fiery crash on the Bruce Highway north of Townsville.

Police said the Kirwan man, aged 34, was travelling northbound on the highway when the ute he was travelling in left the road and crashed into a tree before catching fire about 4.40pm yesterday.

The crash happened at Damper Creek near the Cardwell Range, about 20km south of Cardwell.

Cardwell Police officer in charge Sergeant Stephen Gillinder described the crash as “high impact”.

Witnesses tried to save the life the man killed in a “high impact” crash near Cardwell.

Sgt Gillinder said witnesses, including an off-duty firefighter, attempted to help free the man.

The firefighter was able to extinguish the fire using a fire extinguisher. There were reports the ute was close to exploding.

Sgt Gillinder said it was too early to determine the cause of the crash. He said Forensic Crash Unit officers from Cairns would investigate if speed and possible mechanical failure played a part in the crash.

He urged people to take extreme care when travelling on the roads in what has been a tragic start to the school holidays. Three other people died in the past 24 hours on Queensland roads.

A man has died after the ute he was travelling in collided head-on with a tree, bursting into flames. Cairns Police forensic traffic investigators are heading to the scene.

Yesterday’s crash happened about 5km from where Bingil Bay couple Gemma Cosgrave and partner Steven Arthur died when their car collided head-on with a truck in June 2019.

Their eight-month-old son was pulled from their car by Cairns truck driver Peter Lynch before it burst into flames.

Sgt Gillinder urged people to take extreme care when travelling on the roads in what has been a tragic start to the school holidays.

“Police would like people to take into consideration the extra traffic on the road and recognise the fact they may not be used to travelling long distances and take more brakes and also check the mechanical and road worthiness of their vehicles prior to long distance travel,” he said.

Police have today launched a road safety campaign, Operation Sierra Cold Snap, to prevent serious crashes over the school holidays.

Originally published as Man dies in fiery Bruce Hwy crash near Cardwell