Bruce Highway crash: Driver of stolen vehicle allegedly rammed motorist before crash
The driver of a car stolen in a violent carjacking is the only survivor after allegedly ramming a motorist and forcing them into the path of a third vehicle, causing a catastrophic high-speed crash that killed three people on the Bruce Highway.
Police have now confirmed they are treating the triple fatality as a domestic violence homicide investigation.
Police say that the 25-year-old driver of the stolen Isuzu MU-X, currently under guard at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital, had been in a relationship with the 25-year-old female passenger in a Nissan Navara. The vehicle was rammed into and deliberately forced onto the wrong side of the Bruce Highway.
Detective Superintendent Ben Fadian described it as a complex investigation and appealed for anyone who saw the stolen Isuzu to contact police.
He said that at approximately 4am on Friday, there were multiple reports made to the police regarding a silver Nissan Navara and a white Isuzu MU-X traveling north on the Bruce Highway at Federal.
‘The white Isuzu was trying to ram the Nissan Navara motor vehicle,’ Superintendent Fadian said.
‘As a result that vehicle the [Nissan] crossed onto the southbound lanes of the Bruce Highway.’
The 65-year-old man who was driving the silver Nissan and a 25-year-old woman passenger died in the crash.
The police stated that the young woman and the Navara driver were not acquainted before last night, with police investigating if he was a good Samaritan helping her.
The crash occurred at Federal west of Noosa on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast
The white Isuzu MU-X vehicle had been stolen 12 hours before the highway crash in a violent daylight carjacking in Gympie’s main street on Thursday, police said.
An alert for the vehicle was issued after a man armed with a knife threatened a mother and her three children as the family were getting into the Isuzu MU-X.
The terrified mother got her kids out of the vehicle before handing over the car to the robber, and she and her children were unharmed.
Police later spotted the stolen car, but the driver refused to stop and escaped.
It was not being pursued at the time of the accident.
The three victims include two women, aged 25 and 38, and a 65-year-old man. All three died at the scene.
Police have confirmed one of the vehicles (pictured) involved in the crash was allegedly stolen from Gympie around 4.30pm Thursday
‘The tragedy is that there are three people now deceased and the ripple effect that has on their families.’
Queensland Ambulance Service’s Sunshine Coast acting director Nigel Jones said it was a challenging event for all emergency services.
‘The scene was obviously quite confronting given the mechanism of the forces involved – it was clearly a very high-speed incident involving those vehicles,’ Mr Jones said.
‘So much so that our paramedics report that the two patients were killed on impact with a third patient, unfortunately, passing away shortly afterwards.’
Southbound lanes of the Bruce Highway are expected to be closed for an extended period, and diversions are in place.
The forensic crash unit is investigating, and no charges have been laid.
Three vehicles were involved in the horror crash at Federal. Police remain at the scene
The wreckage of a Nissan Navara ute involved in the crash crumbled against a barrier
