Canberra, Aug 6 : Five people have died after two vehicles collided head-on and burst into flames on a highway in Australia's Northern Territory (NT).
NT Police, Fire and Emergency Services said that two vehicles became fully engulfed in flames following a head-on collision on the Stuart Highway around 12:50 p.m. local time on Wednesday.
A statement on Wednesday evening said that at least four people had died, but an update issued on Thursday said a fifth body was located during the ongoing examination of the scene, reports Xinhua news agency.
Police said that initial investigations indicate that a utility was travelling north when it crossed onto the incorrect side of the highway and collided head-on with a van, causing catastrophic damage to both vehicles.
Members of the public attempted to render assistance but could not extricate the occupants of either vehicle.
The deceased have been identified as a 23-year-old male driver of the utility and his passengers, a 36-year-old man and two women aged 32 and 23, as well as a 69-year-old woman who was the sole occupant of the van.
There were no survivors.
Detective Senior Sergeant Michael Schumacher said on Thursday that witnesses told investigators that the utility was travelling at excessive speed and overtaking dangerously prior to the collision.
"This is an incredibly tragic incident that has claimed five lives and will have a devastating impact on multiple families and the wider community," he said.
The Stuart Highway is one of Australia's longest highways from the NT capital of Darwin on the far north coast to Port Augusta on the south coast.
This comes against the backdrop of another similar incident in Australia's Queensland, where a woman died, and four other people have been hospitalised following a collision caused by a stolen car.
According to the officials, a utility was stolen around 1:10 p.m. on Wednesday before colliding with two other vehicles in the suburbs of Cairns, 1,400 km north of Brisbane, around 15 minutes later.
The 25-year-old female driver of one of the vehicles died at the scene.
Four other people were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
--IANS
