Serious crash between truck and car closes Bruce Hwy at Kybong north of Sunshine Coast

An elderly man has been revealed as the victim of a horror crash south of Gympie which forced the closure of the Bruce Highway for nearly six hours today.

An 86-year-old man has been killed in a horrific head-on crash sbetwen and car and a truck south of Gympie. Picture: Channel 7 News

Update 1.25pm: An 86-year-old Scarness man has been killed in a horror head on crash between a car and a truck on the Bruce Highway south of Gympie.

The 86-year-old was reportedly travelling north on the highway when his car collided with the southbound truck about 1km south of the Gold Nugget service station just before 6am this morning.

He was the only occupant of the car and pronounced dead at the scene.

The 36-year-old truck driver was not seriously injured in the crash.

Police have called for anyone with dashcam footage of the crash to please come forward; the Forensic Crash Unit is investigating.

The crash happened about 1km south of the Gold Nugget service centre.

The highway was cut for almost six hours following the crash; it was reopened about midday.

Update 11.45pm: Police say the Bruce Highway south of Gympie is expected to reopen within the next hour as crews continue to work at the scene of a serious crash which left one person with critical injuries.

The highway was shut for four hours following the crash between a car and a truck 1km south of The Gold Nugget service station at Kybong just before 6am Monday morning.

The southbound lane has reopened.

Traffic has been banked back more than a kilometre on either side of the scene of the crash.

The highway has been cut in both directions following the crash.

Paramedics reportedly treated two people following the crash; one did not require any emergency assistance.

Traffic has been diverted along the Mary Valley Road.

Earlier 10am: The Bruce Hwy will remain closed for hours after a truck and car crash has left a person with critical injuries. Two people were treated, one did not require any emergency assistance.

Queensland Ambulance Services attended the Kybong crash near the Golden Nugget Truck Stop at 5.58am along with Queensland Fire and Emergency Services and Queensland Police.

The Bruce Hwy is closed in both directions at Traveston south of Curra after a car and truck crash. Avoid the area! pic.twitter.com/RcemCuw9oY

— RACQ (@RACQOfficial) June 27, 2021

A police spokesman said the Bruce Highway will remain closed in both directions for hours and diversions are in place along Mary Valley Rd.

Motorists are being urged to avoid the area. The forensic traffic unit is on scene.

Crash at Kybong causes lengthy delays on the Bruce Highway as traffic stays at standstill.

It has already been a horror start to the Queensland school holidays with a man killed on the Gore Highway in the Toowoomba region.

A B-double truck collided with a car on the highway about 6. 45am, just north of Southbrook.

Police are urging motorists to slow down and drive to the school holiday conditions.

At this time last year, four people died and three were seriously injured in five separate incidents on Queensland roads.

Police then launched Operation Cold Snap to coincide with the holidays.

The advice is simple: don’t drive if you are tired, watch your speed, drive to the conditions and avoid distractions.

DEADLY HISTORY FOR COOROY TO CURRA

The Cooroy to Curra stretch of the Bruce Highway was once the deadliest in Queensland with 50 fatal crashes over 10 years. It sparked a major campaign led by the Gympie Times and Sunshine Coast Daily which resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars to fix the stretch.

When then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced $700 million in funding, he cited the campaign led by local media, and read from editorial published in the Sunshine Coast Daily.

The campaign won a Walkley Award for a Sunshine Coast Daily reporter as well as other major media awards for the Gympie Times.

The $1 billion Section D: Woondum to Curra project is a new 26km, 4-lane divided highway between the existing Bruce Highway interchange at Woondum, south of Gympie and Curra.

The project is being delivered in 2 construction contracts with work underway since October 2020. The work will mean traffic avoiding 53 intersections, reduce heavy vehicle traffic by 50% and greatly reduce head-on crashes by providing a divided four-lane highway.

The Department of Main Roads says it will improve travel times by having the new highway posted at 110km/h. The current highway is 80km/h and 60km/h through Gympie.

Originally published as Serious crash between truck and car closes Bruce Hwy at Kybong north of Sunshine Coast