Four victims of horror fatal crash in Gold Coast hinterland identified
The four young Queenslanders who lost their lives in a crash so horrific, seasoned emergency workers said it was one of the worst they’d ever seen, have been identified.
Police & Courts
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The four young people killed in a horrific crash on a Gold Coast hinterland road on Saturday afternoon have been identified.
Three women and a man were travelling in a sedan on Nerang Murwillumbah Rd when initial reports indicated the driver lost control of the vehicle and collided with an oncoming ute.
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All four died at the scene, while the 31-year-old male driver of the ute was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital with minor injuries.
Police said the victims were a 22-year-old woman from Brisbane, a 20-year-old woman from Emerald, and a 20-year-old man and 21-year-old woman, both from Townsville.
Acting senior operations supervisor Bill Houghton from Queensland Ambulance Service said it was ‘an horrific scene’.
“It was very traumatic,” he said.
“It’s probably one of the worst road crashes I have ever seen in my career.”
The accident was so catastrophic that detectives from the Criminal Investigation branch were brought in to assist officers from the Forensic Crash Unit as part of a response featuring dozens of emergency service first responders.
Mudgeeraba MP Ros Bates said yesterday’s accident was ‘another tragedy’ on a notoriously ‘dangerous’ road.
“Wet conditions make our hinterlands roads hazardous,” she said.
Nine people have died in crashes on Nerang-Murwillumbah Road since November 2014 and seven more people have died in the wider Mudgeeraba electorate in that time.
The Department of Transport and Main Roads last week announced $34 million had been allocated to upgrading Nerang–Murwillumbah Road as part of a safety program targeting ‘high risk roads’.
Ms Bates said yesterday’s ‘tragedy’ reinforced the need for local consultation in that program.
“It is vitally important that TMR consults with locals who use this road and know the dangerous sections, as well as the Nerang Police and the Gilston/Advancetown and Numinbah Valley Rural Fire Brigades, who are more often than not first responders on scene in the Hinterland to these fatalities.”
Treasurer Cameron Dick said it was a “terrible, terrible incident”.
There are families that are suffering today as a result of the loss of the lives of four young Queenslanders so it’s a terrible, terrible incident and I express my sympathy to the families,” he said.
“Certainly it’s a reminder to all of us that we need to stay safe on the roads. We know there’s been a slight increase in accidents during the COVID period and it’s a reminder to all of us that we have to stay safe on the roads as best we can.”
Less than 24 hours after Saturday’s crash, two more rollovers involving groups of four people occurred in the state’s southeast.
Four people were hospitalised after a vehicle rollover on another Gold Coast hinterland road this morning.
Paramedics were called to the scene of Gold Coast Springbrook Road and Monaro Road at 6.36am.
All four occupants of the car were taken to Gold Coast University Hospital with reports of one suffering from back pain.
In another shocking incident, one person has died and three were hurt – one seriously – in a vehicle rollover on a Fraser Island beach.