A multi-vehicle crash in Brisbane’s south created chaos on Tuesday morning, with reports of motorists stuck in traffic for more than four hours.
Queensland police Sr Sgt Todd Sucic said a 12-vehicle nose-to-tail accident at Greenslopes happened shortly before 6am, bringing traffic on the M1 from the Gold Coast to a standstill.
“As a result all lanes of the [Pacific Motorway] were closed for 20 to 25 minutes,” he said.
Sucic said all vehicles involved in the pile-up were significantly damaged, and that there were also “a few minor traffic accidents” on the periphery of the scene.
The Queensland ambulance service said six people were hospitalised after the crash but all were in a stable condition. Another seven people were assessed on site.
The Pacific Motorway is completely BLOCKED northbound before Juliette Street at Greenslopes due to a multi vehicle crash. Please delay your trip this way as it's causing major delays #bnetraffic pic.twitter.com/aZH9rxiTEE
— Queensland Police (@QldPolice) May 23, 2022
The Courier Mail reported that one Gold Coast commuter was stuck on the highway for more than four hours.
With traffic diverted, the chaos spilled over into surrounding streets.
“My kids take a 10 minute bus ride to the local high school and it took 40 minutes this morning due to the crazy traffic,” Geoffrey Cathcart wrote on Facebook.
“They don’t even go anywhere near a motorway entrance!”
Other commuters described the state of the highway as a “complete disaster”.
