Sydney Harbour Bridge crash leaves one woman dead, several people injured
The Sydney Harbour Bridge was closed after the head-on collision
The Sydney Harbour Bridge was closed for about three hours this morning after a woman died and four people were injured in a “horrific” head-on car crash.
Key points:
- The Sydney Harbour Bridge reopened just after 10am
- A man with critical head injuries was airlifted off the bridge
- Firefighters had to walk to the crash because traffic was so bad
A helicopter ambulance landed on the bridge to help emergency services deal with the pile-up, which happened about 7.15am and sparked traffic chaos.
The delays are so extensive, crews from The Rocks Fire Station had to make their way to the crash on foot.
Authorities told people to work from home as queues of cars, trucks and busses fanned out for kilometres across the city.
A female motorist who had been waiting two hours to cross the bridge described the scene as “horrific”.
“It’s pretty bad, they’ve cut open cars, one car is pretty much flattened,” she said.
“They just got a person out as we were driving past. It’s pretty terrible.”
That person, a woman in her 40s, was trapped in her car for more than 30 minutes with severe injuries and rescue crews had to cut the roof off her BMW to free her.
The collision, which involved a Mitsubishi Mirage travelling north and a BMW travelling south, was so extensive rescue crews divided it into two separate operations because it spanned multiple lanes.
The female driver of the Mitsubishi died at the scene.
Her two passengers, both men believed to be in their 30s, were treated for head injuries and one is in a serious condition.
The driver of the BMW could be seen talking to her rescuers and turning her head once the roof of the vehicle she was driving was removed.
NSW Ambulance Chief Superintendent Cameron Edgar said the woman was “quite badly trapped for a significant period of time” and had severe leg injuries.
“She was obviously concerned and in pain but she was, all things being considered, in reasonably good spirits and able to talk to the paramedics and doctor throughout her treatment,” he said.
The passenger in her car escaped with minor injuries.
The helicopter that landed on the bridge had a specialist medical team on board and airlifted the man in a serious condition to Royal North Shore Hospital.
The Harbour Bridge links the CBD to Australia’s third largest business district of North Sydney.
It reopened just after 10.00am.
Authorities asked people to work from home, and delays are expected to continue throughout the morning.
“The advice at this stage is to avoid travel all together,” Melissa Cornejo, from NSW’s Transport Management Centre, said before the bridge reopened.
“Buses are not travelling over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and they are terminating their trips early.
“You can consider catching a train, however we are reminding people to practise physical distancing when on board services.”
Source: abc
