St Lawrence Queensland: Hungarian tourist couple planning to marry before highway crash

Heartbreaking details about a horrific single car crash revealed that the couple involved were soon to be engaged before the accident ended one of their lives.

A woman, 29, was in the middle of a move from Mackay to Brisbane with her partner, 28, when their white Mitsubishi wagon rolled over in St Lawrence just after 7am on July 3.

The male driver and female passenger had left a straight section of the Bruce Highway before veering off the road about 2km south of the Waverly Creek.

During the crash the woman was partially ejected from the wagon and died at the scene while her partner was airlifted to hospital for his injuries.

It has since been revealed that the male driver was planning to propose to his partner before the deadly accident.

The Bruce highway was closed for several hours as police and emergency services worked to assess the situation. 

RACQ CapRescue flew the male to Rockhampton Hospital for treatment after he had been extricated from the crash site so that the rescue helicopter could reach him. 

He has since been released from the hospital. 

The couple had both arrived from Hungary some time ago before deciding to move to the city and their car was stuffed with personal belongings when it flipped.

After rolling over, the wagon had returned to its upright position and came to a rest on its rear wheels until emergency workers arrived.

Weather conditions prior to the accident were mildly wet, with intermittent showers before the crash, but it is unknown whether this contributed to the incident.

Any witnesses, or anyone who may have dashcam footage of the day, has been called on by police to help with their continuing investigation.

The couple had both came from Hungary some time ago before deciding to move to Brisbane from Mackay. Their car was stuffed with personal belongings when it flipped

Two more fatal crashes happened in the Mackay and Whitsunday regions in the 10 days that following the rolled wagon at St Lawrence.

Police have been addressing the issue, asking drivers to consider road safety and increased vigilance in the area. 

The road toll in the Mackay district for 2023 now sits at eight deaths, which is nearing the 10 that lost their lives in the entirety of 2020. 

Deaths on the road have been skyrocketing in Mackay since the turn of the decade, with five fatalities in a single week of May 2022. 

‘We’ve pushed the fatal five [message] time and time again, and what we’re seeing more ­recently and, sadly, through the month of May is that people are choosing to ignore the messaging that is coming from Queensland Police and our partner emergency services,’ Mackay Acting Inspector Jeremy Novosel told the Courier Mail at the time.

‘It’s devastating to everyone involved. It’s devastating to the families. It’s devastating to the police who have to turn up to deliver probably one of the most difficult messages that we have to face in our job.’