A 26-year-old man who allegedly drove past two police cars with no lights on before slamming into seven vehicles causing a horrific eight-car pile-up which left a teenager dead.
Police said the Holden Commodore was on Campbelltown Road, Woodbine in Sydney’s southwest, about 7pm on Good Friday, before it passed to the wrong side of the road.
The man then smashed his vehicle into a Kia Sportage which was being driven by an Uber driver, 57, with four passengers, three men aged 18, 19 and 20 and a woman, 18.
One teenager is dead and another five have been injured in a horror crash involving eight cars in Sydney’s south-west
Two vehicles went up in flames leaving a number of people seriously injured at Woodbine, Campbelltown Road, after 7pm Good Friday (pictured)
The 18-year-old man died at the scene after frantic CPR attempts, while the driver and remaining passengers were all seriously injured, NSW Police said.
The driver and three passengers have undergone surgery and are in serious but stable conditions.
The vehicle then collided with another six vehicles before erupting into a ball of fire.
Witnesses were able to free the 26-year-old passenger from the blue Commodore where he was then taken to Liverpool Hospital for surgery for internal injuries and is now in an induced coma.
A helicopter was brought in to airlift those seriously injured while others were rushed to hospital by road.
NSW Chief Inspector Michael Moroney said the circumstances as to why a car, was ‘on the wrong side of the road’ is being investigated.
‘I believe he (the 18-year-old) was a passenger of a vehicle, not connected with the vehicle driving on the incorrect side of the road,’ he said on Saturday.
A witness described the fiery aftermath of the horror eight-car collision as something ‘horrific’.
Alan Charlton told Daily Mail Australia he heard the sirens and fire trucks blasting their horns before he went outside to find the nightmare pile-up.
‘It was horrific … quite a lot were injured,’ he said.
‘People were getting treatment everywhere – they seemed to be mainly 60 to 100 metres apart on the median strip area.
‘Then going across the road to the other side, there were another lot scattered everywhere getting treatment from medical staff.’
Mr Charlton said he thought all of the cars involved would have been write offs including one car that he believed hit a pole.
A helicopter was brought in to airlift those seriously injured while others were rushed to hospital by road after an 18-year-old passenger of the Kia Sportage died at the scene
A number of people were seriously injured including teenagers and a 54-year-old man
‘The light pole was bent over and bent in a number of spots it had turned into a boomerang,’ he said.
‘One of the vehicles must have been airborne to have hit so high up on the pole.’
One red station wagon was left at the intersection and had been ‘ripped open’.
‘You could see this piece of red metal hanging out the back,’ Mr Charlton told Daily Mail Australia Saturday morning.
While a number of people received treatment before being either airlifted or driven to hospital, Mr Charlton said people were being treated all over Campbelltown Road.
Another witness, Matthew Bostock, told The Daily Telegraph: ‘It didn’t sound like a crash anyone could survive, it was just horrible.’
A blue Holden Commodore, a Toyota Yaris, Nissan X-Trail, Ford Mondeo, Hyundai Santa Fe, Commodeore wagon, Kia Sportage and a Mitsubishi Lancer were all involved in the fiery collision.
Investigators are still determining the cause of the tragic pile-up which injured so many
Three people were in the Commodore wagon driven by a man, 69, but only one female passenger was injured.
The remaining people involved in the crash – four women and two men – were assessed at the scene by paramedics before being taken to hospital.
They included a woman, 45, driving the Toyota Yaris, a woman, 35, driving a Nissan X Trail, a woman, 21 driving the Ford Mondeo, a man, 54, driving the Santa Fe and a man and a woman both aged 26 who were travelling in the Mitsubishi.
Investigators are still determining the cause of the tragic pile-up.