‘Heroes’: Six defence force personnel injured after two army vehicles roll in northern NSW

One truck rolled several times into a paddock and another tipped onto its side, attempting to avoid the first vehicle.

Six Australian Defence Force personnel have suffered serious injuries following an incident involving two Army trucks in flood-alerted northern NSW.

Anthony Albanese told reporters on Sunday all injured personnel were being treated at local hospitals and that their families had been notified.

Six Australian Defence Force personnel have suffered serious injuries following an incident involving two Army trucks in flood-alerted northern NSW. Picture: 9 NEWS

All personnel are being treated at local hospitals. Picture: 9News

“There were 32 soldiers across two vehicles involved in this incident,” the Prime Minister said.

“Thirteen soldiers were assessed on scene as having injuries. Six have serious injuries. All are being cared for in local hospitals.

“Everyone at the scene did their best to look after their mates, and I am hugely grateful to emergency services and healthcare workers for the first aid and ongoing care all of their families have now been notified for the extraordinary members of the Australian Defence Force and their loved ones.”

The trucks were deployed from Brisbane’s Gallipoli Barracks to the Lismore area in northern NSW to help communities enduring severe weather conditions inflicted by ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

Mr Albanese hailed them as “heroes” and thanked them for their service.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has hailed the injured ADF personnel as ‘heroes’. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“There are no easy days,” he said.

“Every day could bring danger, every day carries risks, and yet they step up and face them for us, the Australian people, for our nation and for their fellow Australians, these men and women are heroes who are on their way to help people in need.

“They were doing this at a time when some of their own families were bearing the brunt of Alfred we will never take for granted the enormous sacrifice our soldiers make for us, and we will do all we can to support those injured and their families.

“We thank them for their service yesterday, today and every day.”

No collision

The incident happened outside Lismore about 5pm on Saturday, on roads still in poor condition after flooding in 2022.

In an early morning statement, NSW Police said the two vehicles did not collide.

“One vehicle left the roadway and rolled several times into a paddock, and a second vehicle tipped onto its side attempting to avoid the first vehicle,” a police spokesperson said.

Each vehicle had 15 passengers and a driver.

All 32 people were taken to various hospitals in Lismore, Tweed Heads, Ballina and Byron Bay for assessment.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles says the trucks were clearing roads when the incident occurred. Picture: 9News

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said both trucks were “engaged in route clearance work and were in transit from one task to another when the incident occurred”.

“Both trucks rolled,” he said.

“The circumstances of the incident are still being investigated.”

Sydney Morning Herald chief photographer Nick Moir stumbled across the scene — the volunteer firefighter described Defence personnel trapped inside an overturned truck.

“I was coming back from Coraki, just to check on the flood situation there, coming up the hill and (I) saw this giant thing up on the road,” Moir told Channel 9.

A total of thirteen of the Defence personnel were injured. Picture: 7 News.

“I actually stopped, got out my long lens to have a look, and it was like, ‘Holy crap! There’s guys all up on the top.”

(I) took a couple of shots but then, I’m also an RFS (Rural Fire Service) member, so I got out and started going up to see what was going on.”

“It was obvious that there was a lot of injuries,” Moir said.

“(I) called the emergency services in. It was pretty hectic the first 10 minutes, it was just triaging who had what sort of injuries.

The Lismore area saw serious flooding on Saturday. Picture: NewsWire / Glenn Campbell

“There were people trapped down inside (the vehicle), I couldn’t get down there.”

The photographer said the injured Defence personnel were more concerned about their trapped colleagues.

“They’re also all young guys, so they’re all going, ‘No, I’m fine. I’m fine’ and then you’re going, ‘No mate, you’ve got a smack on the back of your head, probably broken ribs, broken legs’ and stuff like that,” Moir said.

“And they’re all trying to hop around and going, ‘No, I’m all right, my mates are stuck inside’.

“And very thankfully, a paramedic turned up pretty quickly.”

“You can see the road quality here is quite bad, still suffering from three or four years ago, all they would have had to do was slip off the road,” Moir said.

“You can see some big tyre marks where they’ve started to skid and then it’s dug into the road and flipped over (but) I can’t tell you how many times it’s flipped over.”

Originally published as ‘Heroes’: Six defence force personnel injured after two army vehicles roll in northern NSW