Deaths a tragic start to the year. January 2009

Deaths a tragic start to the year

22 January 2009

Traffic on the North Shore was gridlocked last Thursday following two car accidents that claimed three lives in three hours, including a Coolum man. Two teenage sisters from Brisbane, Anna Clark, 18, and her 15-year-old sister, Jennifer, died instantly when a truck crashed into the back of their car while it was stopped at road works on the Sunshine Motorway at Pacific Paradise just after 2.15pm. Their 53-year-old father, who was the driver of their car, was also injured but was released from Nambour General Hospital. Four cars had stopped under the direction of a traffic controller, in a 40kmh zone of the new motorway section, when a concrete pumping truck ran into their Subaru Forester, which was crushed between the truck and a small Hyundai hatchback in front of them. The driver of the Hyundai was injured when the vehicle meshed with the Holden ute stopped in front of it. Skid marks from the truck went for more than 20 metres. The 50-year-old truck driver, who lives at a Kiel Mountain, has been interviewed by police. Both the truck driver and his passenger escaped serious injury.