The victims of a double fatal Brisbane tunnel crash have been named as two best friends from out-of-state and a former police officer.
When Emma McLean, 23, of South Australia, and Lily Galbraith, 24, of the Northern Territory, entered the Legacy Way Tunnel at Mount Coot-tha yesterday afternoon, it is thought that they were headed to a wedding.
They were driving a silver Mazda when a black Audi struck them, sending them flying into a tiny vehicle.
Galbraith perished in the collision; it is thought that she was a nurse at Adelaide’s Flinders Private Hospital.
After undergoing surgery over night, McLean—who was engaged and organizing her own wedding—was left fighting for her life in the hospital.
Bruce Daley, a 56-year-old retired police officer, was the driver of the Audi and also perished.
It’s unknown when or why Daley left the force, but he was an acting senior sergeant while serving.
Adrian Scrhinner, the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, offered his respects.
“I just want to say to those people and families that have been impacted by this tragedy, the hearts of everyone in Brisbane are going out to you,” he stated.
“Tragedy” was how Detective Acting Inspector Chris Hansel described the collision.
At a press conference today, he declared, “Every life lost on our roads is a tragedy and we continue to implore drivers to practice patience.”
Police are looking into all of the vehicles involved, according to Hansel, who stated that they have CCTV from within the tunnel.
“Speed is obviously being considered as a contributing factor,” he stated.
Online, witnesses claimed to have seen the Audi exceeding 200 km/h.
First responders, who remained on the scene for hours until the tunnel reopened, found the incident to be disturbing, according to Hansel.
“It’s confronting personally, it’s confronting professionally,” he stated.
This year’s road toll in Queensland has increased to 99 fatalities, prompting alerts to be sent out to drivers statewide in advance of the long weekend.
“Be vigilant, be patient, be aware of your surroundings,” Hansel added.
“With the long weekend coming up, we will have a lot of traffic on our roads.”
