100km of Bruce Hwy closed for 24 hours after horror B-double, ambulances crash at Gindoran
A senior traffic cop has described the catastrophic conditions crews were faced with after six trucks and two ambulances were smashed up in three separate crashes, closing a near-100km stretch of the Bruce Hwy. LATEST.
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A senior police officer has described the confronting task emergency crews had after three crashes involving multiple trucks and ambulances left a trail of carnage, closing nearly 100km of Bruce Hwy from Tuesday to Wednesday morning.
Tragically, one driver who was critically injured died in hospital on Thursday night while another man in his 20s who was injured has since been discharged and a third man in his 50s who was seriously hurt was in a stable condition.
Officer in charge of Calliope Highway Patrol Senior Sergeant Shaune English said there had been a total of three crashes involving six B-Double trucks and two ambulances at Gindoran between Bundaberg and Gladstone.
“The first call was in relation to a single truck that had come off the road,” Snr Sgt English said.
“And then there was a second call as they were on their way to that saying there had been another five trucks involved in a second crash.”
The third crash involved the ambulances crashing into one another while responding to the emergencies in heavy fog, made worse by smoke caused by nearby backburning.
A near-100km stretch of the Bruce Highway between Gin Gin and Miriam Vale was closed from about 1.50am Tuesday until about 2.30am Wednesday.
Snr Sgt English said one of the biggest issues was having enough tow trucks to clear the road.
“Six B-doubles is a lot of trucks to move,” he said.
“There were six prime movers and 12 trailers they needed to try and get moved.
“Just the logistics of moving that many trailers on its own, let alone untangling them all and getting them all fit to move
“There were also concerns due to leaking gas out of one of the tankers.
“There was an exclusion zone due to the leaking gas.
“The exclusion zone didn’t allow anybody to get in and start investigating until late yesterday morning.”
While Snr Sgt English said it was too early to determine the cause, reduced visibility was possibly a major factor.
“Information we have got is there was a fair amount of fog combined with smoke from a burn off,” he said.
He said the Forensic Crash Unit was continuing its investigation.
Corey Hindley, owner of QCAR Towing in Bundaberg, said he was in the area just after the initial collision.
“I picked up a breakdown just south of Childers and I had to go northbound to drop off at Gladstone.
“I got about halfway northbound past Gin Gin, coming into Miriam Vale – it was about 20-30km out of Miriam Vale.
“I had come around a corner and I just about hit two B-doubles because of the thickness of the fog.
“There was a fire too so there was smoke everywhere.
“I almost hit the B-doubles so I got off the road.
“Just up the road a B-double was trying to reverse back to get off the road to let two ambulances come through.
“They have collected the back of a B-double and both of them went straight into a ditch and smashed up.
“We were stuck there. About 3am (the second crash) happened.
“They got us some room just to turn around and we had to go back into Bundy, drop off and then go around the back way where you go to Agnes Water.’’
AMBOS ‘SOLDIERED ON’ DESPITE CRASHING OWN VEHICLES
Queensland Ambulance Service clinical operations director Tony Hucker said the paramedics crashed coming around a bend at a low speed in thick fog.
“Two of our ambulances were involved in a minor nose to tail crash themselves,” he said.
Mr Hucker said the paramedics involved in the ambulance crash, despite minor injuries, “soldiered on”, along with bystanders who helped, to treat the injured.
“A lot of truck drivers who weren’t involved in the crash were able to help,” he said.
He said the B-double crash was “chaotic” with about 30 trucks pulled up on the road at the scene.
Paramedics had to catch a lift with the firefighters in a fire truck to access those injured.
Mr Hucker said paramedics treated three seriously injured people for hours who were trapped in their vehicles.
Another ambulance had arrived at the crash prior to the other ambulances that crashed.
The clinical operations director said he was proud of his paramedics.
“They’re very committed to their communities and it just shows despite having a distressing experience by having a crash themselves they were able to crack on and continue and provide really good care for these patients,” Mr Hucker said.
The clinical operations director pleaded with motorists to drive to conditions and to slow down in fog, or pull over if it was really bad.
He said the Bruce Hwy was a long road with bends, swerves and “even on a good day” highway driving could be dangerous.
Many took to Facebook to comment on how hard it was to see amid the smoke and fog on Tuesday.
“The visibility this morning was non existent. Even through the detour,’’ Ashleigh Fargher posted.
Diversions were in place from Gin Gin via Mulgrave Street into Bundaberg Gin Gin Road, Rosedale Road, Lowmead Road, Tableland Road through Fingerboard Road to Miriam Vale, but these roads were not suitable for heavy vehicles.
Multiple fire crews were sent to the highway horror with reports all of the truck drivers were initially trapped in their cabins.
A Queensland Fire Department spokesman said fire crews used hydraulic tools to release three people who had been trapped in the vehicles as a result of the crash.
Firefighters also issued a general smoke warning for the area.
“Smoke is currently affecting Miriam Vale and surrounding areas. This is from a fire burning near the Bruce Highway at Miriam Vale.”
People were advised to avoid driving if they could and stay indoors, particularly if they suffered from respiratory conditions.
‘VERY DANGEROUS’: LOCALS DEMAND BRUCE HIGHWAY FIX
The Courier-Mail can reveal the part of the road where the crash happened had a two-star rating.
Sections of the road are rated on a 5-star scale with 1-star being the least safe.
The Courier-Mail’s Help Our Highway campaign, which launched in April, revealed almost half the Bruce Highway failed basic safety ratings and just 10 per cent was assessed as extremely safe, with stretches in regional Queensland emerging as the worst danger zones.
The crash drama comes just days after the state of the Bruce Highway emerged as the number one issue at a Bush Summit in Townsville hosted by The Courier Mail and regional mastheads.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hinted at a long-term multibillion-dollar commitment to “finish” the Bruce Highway after being quizzed about why all three major highways in his home state of NSW are now dual carriageways while the Bruce in Queensland is not.
Mr Albanese said those changes occurred while he was infrastructure minister and he admitted the Bruce upgrades commenced at the same time.
“What I don’t want to do, and people don’t need in this country, is media releases that make claims that then don’t get delivered,” he said. “I want to it as soon as possible. I want to work with the Queensland state government in doing that.”
According to Liberty Colosseum Creek Motel owner Jadin Kotradya, the stretch of road is notorious with locals.
“It’s very dangerous when it’s foggy and there are lots of potholes,” Mr Kotradya said.
“Three days ago I drove to Brisbane at 4am and I couldn’t see the lines even with our high beams on.
“I could only drive at 60kmph in a 100 zone, in the early morning it is scary
“We see so many accidents every few days with big trucks or small dings,” he said.
Mr Kotradya said the condition of the road was not suitable for night driving.
“It’s not good to be driving a small car along there, you need a big one,” Mr Kotradya said.
“Going up to Miriam Vale from Gin Gin it’s quite a windy road that goes up and down.”
Online, responding to news of Tuesday’s crash, Natasha Rose expressed the sentiment of many.
“Election time coming up, should make the politicians all use vehicles to travel especially the PM I bet he will change his attitude towards funding the roads up here,’’ she wrote in her Facebook post.
Vincent Armstrong agreed, adding: “Challenge any politicians to drive the Bruce Hwy day after day, night after night – it's a dangerous hwy, dual line hwy is needed.”
Wendy Maree said: “These are all professional drivers involved in both accidents. These people drive all day long. They are the most experienced drivers on the road. Maybe, just maybe, these accidents were caused by road conditions?”
Others blamed the fog and heavy smoke in the area, saying more drivers need to slow down in the conditions or even pull over in heavy fog and smoke.
Liz Skate Tomlin said the Bruce Highway was not up to it.
“It’s the sh*t government not spending $$ on the A1 road around Australia. Pot holes big enough to swallow small children are not acceptable.’’
Many said they wanted to see big trucks off the highway and on another route.
“I reckon is way too much road transport and its always going to be a bad outcome then add the crap highway and fog,’’ Keven Glinster said.
Gladdy Wabbos said she doubted speed would be a factor along that stretch. “The fuel tanker would flat out do 98klms and between Gin Gin and Miriam Vale it’s that up and down and bendy and the road is sh*t nobody can do 100kmh even if they wanted to.”
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