General News
23 June, 2026
Spike in region’s road accidents
EMERGENCY services crews were called to numerous road accidents across the region last week.
Last Tuesday afternoon saw two crashes in less than an hour and a half, with one incident just outside Speewah resulting in a fatality and another near Tolga leading to a vehicle catching fire.
Initial investigations at the Speewah crash indicated at around 3pm a silver Mitsubishi Pajero was travelling towards Cairns when it drove into the back of a Fuso light truck which was stopped at roadworks.
The driver of the Pajero, a 67-year-old man from Forsayth, who has since been identified as Charlie Gunter, was airlifted to Cairns Base Hospital with critical injuries and was later declared deceased.
The passenger in the vehicle, a 72-year-old woman, was taken to hospital as a precaution and the Cairns truck driver was not physically injured.
Police believe other motorists may have witnessed the lead-up to the crash and are appealing to them or anyone with dashcam footage to contact Policelink.
Less than 90 minutes later, at around 4.20pm, emergency services responded to a two-vehicle traffic crash on the Kennedy Highway near Tolga, with one of the vehicles catching fire as a result.
Police told The Express only minor injuries had been reported from this incident.
On Thursday, a truck was involved in a single vehicle accident near Kay Road. Initial information indicated that at around 6.40am, the truck was travelling towards Mareeba on the Kennedy Highway when it left the road and rolled.
The driver, a 43-year-old Koah man, was taken to Mareeba Hospital and investigations are ongoing.
