An allegedly stolen and speeding car flipped and exploded into flames on the Sydney Harbour Bridge after a multi-vehicle crash this morning.
Traffic in and out of Sydney's CBD was brought to a standstill after the crash just after 7am this morning, which has left one person in a serious condition.
A man, who is under police guard at Royal North Shore Hospital, is alleged to have stolen a Toyota Kluger from the vicinity of Sussex and Goulburn streets minutes earlier.
He was pulled from the burning car by passing motorists after it caught fire, while the driver of a van had to be cut free of that vehicle by emergency services.
Detective Superintendent Rohan Cramsie said footage of the incident, which shows the Kluger weaving in and out of heavy traffic on the bridge before slamming into the van, was "extremely confronting".
"And I can only begin to imagine what the other drivers would have witnessed and experienced when they saw that vehicle coming towards them ... which we would allege was above the speed limit," he said.
"It's horrifying to watch."
The Kluger collided head-on with a van travelling south on the bridge, which then bounced into a third vehicle being driven by a woman.
Detective Superintendent Cramsie said it was a very serious incident and those who had been inside the cars "have been extremely lucky to get away with their lives".
Police have been told the Kluger's owner was changing a tyre in the city when a man approached him to speak about the car.
It will be alleged a scuffle broke out before the man stole the four-wheel drive and drove it northbound over the bridge.
Detective Superintendent Cramsie said the car's owner suffered only minor injuries but was "obviously distressed about what has occurred this morning".
Police are yet to interview the man who was allegedly driving the Kluger as he is undergoing medical treatment for non-life-threatening injuries, he said.
"Once he gets medical clearance we are certainly very keen to speak to him," Detective Superintendent Cramsie said.
The Sydney City commander praised the actions of motorists on the bridge who helped save the man from the burning Kluger.
"Those people who got out have shown tremendous courage and we applaud them for that," he said.
Firefighters managed to extinguish the blaze shortly after arriving at the scene.
A woman who was driving the third vehicle involved in the crash was treated at the scene by paramedics before being taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
The driver of the van was trapped and freed by Fire and Rescue NSW before he was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital in a serious but stable condition.
Police have appealed for anyone with information about the alleged theft or the crash to come forward and call Crime Stoppers on 1800 33 000.
The bridge was closed for three hours as police investigated the scene but has now reopened in both directions, with all eight lanes running as normal.
Northbound traffic has returned to normal, but southbound traffic remains heavy from the Lane Cove Tunnel to the Gore Hill Freeway.
The Transport Management Centre is warning motorists travelling southbound to prepare for significant delays.
Transport Management Centre executive director Craig Moran warned motorists it could take "a number of hours" to reopen all the lanes on the bridge.
Mr Moran said trains moving across the bridge remained unaffected by the incident, but buses could expect significant disturbances.
"A number of bus services have been diverted to north Sydney to start and begin their journey rather than continuing to travel across the harbour bridge," he said.
Fire and Rescue NSW Acting Superintendent Mathew Sigmund said the drivers were lucky to escape the fire.
Acting Superintendent Sigmund said the man trapped in the van was dangerously close to the flames before the bridge's Traffic Management Centre managed to tow him to safety.
"The van that had the person trapped inside of it was originally located quite hard up against the vehicle that was on fire and that traffic commander has managed to drag that vehicle away from the car," he said.
Acting Superintendent Sigmund said the man inside the van was hit head-on in the collision.
"The van was involved at the front end, so the driver was impacted and the front of the vehicle was crushed towards him," he said.
