Four children and mother die in horrific head-on crash in Queensland
Four young children and their mother have died in a fiery head-on crash that's closed a highway south of the Queensland town of Kingaroy northwest of Brisbane.
The woman and her children were in a car attempting to overtake a truck on the Bunya Highway just before 7.30pm on Monday.
The car then hit an oncoming truck and both vehicles caught on fire, police say.
The car was being driven by the mother, a 35-year-old Eli Waters woman, who died at the scene along with three of her children.
A young girl also driving in the car with her family suffered serious burns and was taken to Kingaroy Hospital with life-threatening injuries.
She was then flown the Queensland Children’s Hospital in a critical condition but died during the flight.
All of the children are aged under 10.
A 47-year-old man, who was the driver of the truck, was rushed to Kingaroy Hospital where he was treated for non life-threatening injuries.
Queensland Police Inspector Graeme Paine told the ABC the crash was an “absolute tragedy”.
“This is a catastrophic incident scene. It’s certainly one of the worst accidents that I’ve ever seen,” he said.
“We will certainly offer whatever support we can to not only to the first responders on scene but also to the family.
“This is a tragic incident scene, the extent of devastation that will come from an incident like this not only for the family of the people involved but also the community.”
Paramedic fought to reach mum and kids
Paramedics had to fight their way through flames and smoke to reach the vehicle, which was set ablaze along with the truck.
They managed to pull out one child, a girl who'd suffered horrific burns, but there was nothing they could do to save the others.
Ambulance Service Assistant Commissioner Stephen Zsombok said paramedics faced a daunting scene, with victims trapped inside the burning car.
"These are very seasoned officers and they've explained this as tragic, extremely traumatic with people obviously involved in the car that's caught fire," he said.
"Smoke, fire, our officers have gone though that dangerous scene to get to the child they were able to work on ... Unfortunately that child died.
"Our hearts go out to the family and friends of those people."
Police are investigating the incident and are expected to remain on the scene for a number of hours.
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