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A 25-year-old woman has died and four people, including a child, were taken to hospital following a three-car collision north of Cairns.
Shortly after 1pm on Wednesday, a 36-year-old man allegedly stole a Toyota LandCruiser utility in Palm Cove, a suburb 25 kilometres north of Cairns.
Chief Superintendent Kevin Fitzgibbon said about 15 minutes later, the vehicle collided head-on with two cars – a RAV4 and a Subaru Impreza – travelling south along Smithfield Bypass, also north of Cairns.
“My understanding is that the Toyota LandCruiser rolled,” Fitzgibbon said.
He said five people were injured in the crash, including the 25-year-old Kewarra Beach woman driving the RAV4, who died at the scene.
Four people in the Impreza were injured, including a child, and taken to Cairns Hospital.
One of the Impreza’s occupants, an adult man, was transported in a serious but non-life-threatening condition, Fitzgibbon said.
He said the LandCruiser had been taken while the owner was working close to the vehicle, but it was unclear whether the keys had been in the car or if it had been a keyless ignition.
“It was just a … vehicle open with the keys nearby,” he said.
While the 36-year-old was known to police, Fitzgibbon said officers did not pursue him at the time of the crash.
He said the man then forced the driver of a fourth vehicle to take him away from the crash site, before police intercepted the car further south, on Reservoir Road.
“It is quite a dynamic investigation, essentially involving three separate incidents,” Fitzgibbon said.
He said the driver of the fourth vehicle, who was not injured, dropped off the 36-year-old near where he was arrested about 2.15pm.
The 36-year-old was taken to hospital, where he remained under police guard on Wednesday night.
“Our detectives anticipate he’ll be there overnight,” Fitzgibbon said, adding it was unlikely police would lay any charges before Thursday.
The crash was “the kind of job that no police [officer] wants to go to”, he said, expressing his sympathies to the dead woman’s family.
“I think the Far North community has every right to be upset and expect more from their fellow community members,” he said.
Police urged anyone who might have seen the crash or alleged theft and carjacking – or who might have footage of the incidents – to come forward.
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