SYDNEY, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Three people have died and two others have been hospitalized with serious injuries following four separate traffic accidents that occurred within two hours in the Australian state of Queensland on Wednesday night.
The Queensland Police Service (QPS) said that the first fatal incident occurred at 6:20 p.m. local time when a man exited his vehicle on an arterial road in Caloundra, 75 km north of Brisbane, and was hit by a truck.
The 52-year-old man died at the scene.
A short time later at 6:30 p.m., a motorcycle and SUV collided on a highway about 110 km northwest of Brisbane.
The rider of the motorcycle, a 31-year-old man, sustained critical injuries and was declared deceased at the scene.
A third man, aged 23, died around 8:25 p.m. when a vehicle that he was a passenger in crashed into a power pole in Brisbane's outer southeast.
The driver of the vehicle, a 24-year-old man, sustained serious injuries and was taken to hospital.
Earlier on Wednesday night, police said officers were at 6:20 p.m. called to reports of a collision involving a tow truck, a hatchback and a utility on the Gold Coast south of Brisbane.
The 24-year-old male driver of the hatchback was transported to hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The driver of the utility received minor injuries and the tow truck driver was not injured.
The QPS said on Thursday that investigations into all four incidents were ongoing. ■
