Update
A Colombian woman who was making a new life in Australia died in the horror head-on crash in the airport tunnel on Thursday morning.
Leidy Rincon, 29, and three women friends were on their way to work when their black Honda CVR and a white Ford Falcon with only one occupant, the male driver, collided.
The Honda was travelling north in the contra flow lane in the southbound tunnel. The Falcon was in the same lane, heading south.
Police are appealing for witnesses and Dash Cam footage which may explain the accident.
They are also awaiting the results of mandatory testing of the male driver.
Christian Lozada, whose mother and girlfriend and mother were in the Honda, ran through gridlocked traffic on General Holmes Drive to the accident scene.
Mr Lozada said later Ms Rincon, who had been seated in the back of the Honda was "a lovely, kind person, who adored Australia".
She had returned only a week earlier after a visit to Colombia and was making a new life in Australia, he said.
Update
Transport for NSW is not commenting on the safety of the contra flow lane arrangement in the airport tunnel, where a woman was killed and four people seriously injured in a head-on crash this morning.
"Because this is an ongoing police investigation it would be inappropriate for Transport for NSW to comment," a spokeswoman said.
There has been a flood of comments on the Leader Facebook page from motorists who feared such an accident:
Comments included:
- Ian Gray: That morning peak northbound lane in the southbound tunnel was a disaster waiting to happen, and now it has. Shocking piece of road design. No divider on your right and a solid wall on your left. Nowhere to go if you need to avoid someone coming the other way. What a tragedy.
- Robyn Morrison: I drive this lane every morning. The other day I saw someone had gotten in the wrong northbound lane and instead of going with their mistake, they drove over the lane dividers to change lanes causing me to slam on the brakes.
- Dexter Rebeiro: Reduce the legal speed to 40 inside the tunnel before they find a safe solution
- Tom Petrovski: Every morning on the way to work, driving in the contra lane, I get anxious expecting something to go wrong at any moment.
- Glenn Anthony: I never use that lane for that reason, disaster waiting to happen. Even further along where cars have to merge is really dangerous. Terrible conditions, but as usual it takes a fatal accident for our people in power to make changes.
Update
The airport tunnel has reopened following this morning's head-on crash in which a woman was killed and four people seriously injured.
Peak-period traffic was thrown into chaos by the accident, which occurred in the contra flow lane of the southbound tunnel.
Earlier
A woman has died and four people were taken to hospital in a serious condition after a head-on crash in the airport tunnel this morning.
The woman, who was a backseat passenger and believed to be in her 30s, was unable to be revived at the scene.
Inspector Kath Rallings, duty operations manager for NSW Ambulance, described the incident as a "horrendous crash", The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
"When paramedics arrived on scene it was absolute bedlam," she said.
Emergency services were called to the scene at Mascot after the vehicles collided head-on in the northbound lane about 5.40am.
An extra lane in the southbound tunnel is made available for northbound traffic in the morning peak. It is designated by lights but there is no physical barrier.
The Leader's Facebook page was flooded with comments from motorists about the danger of the contra-flow and it being "an accident waiting to happen".
Police were told five people were travelling in the northbound vehicle while the driver of the southbound vehicle was the sole occupant.
The woman passenger in the northbound vehicle died at the scene and three others were seriously injured. All were taken to hospital.
The driver of southbound vehicle was taken to St George Hospital for treatment for injuries and mandatory testing.
Traffic was thrown into chaos by the blockage of the airport tunnel southbound.
There were diversions in place at Southern Cross Drive and Wentworth Street.
Crash Investigators are on the scene.
Anyone with dashcam vision of this incident, or with information which can assist investigators, is urged to contact the CIU or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Motorists should continue to monitor www.livetraffic.com for updates.
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Information is treated in strict confidence. The public is reminded not to report crime via NSW Police social media pages.
WANT MORE LOCAL NEWS?
SIGN UP FOR YOUR FREE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER