A truck driver has been charged over a fiery crash on the M1 that left two people dead and five in hospital on Tuesday.
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Emergency services were called to the motorway, just north of the Mooney Mooney Bridge on the Central Coast, about 4.50pm to reports of a northbound crash between a truck and five cars.
First responders arrived to find the truck had collided with the back of one of the cars and caught fire.
A NSW Ambulance spokesman said it appeared a car had “gone under” the truck.
Two men who were travelling in a Ford utility died in the crash. The men, believed to have been aged 19 and 52, have not yet been formally identified.
A 75-year-old woman who was driving a Kia Rio sedan was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital where she remains in a stable condition.
The remaining four drivers and passengers - a 62-year-old woman, a 44-year-old woman, and two women aged 36 and 34 who were travelling together - were taken to Gosford Hospital for further treatment.
A hospital spokeswoman said three of the women were released overnight and one patient, the 44-year-old woman, remains in hospital in a stable condition.
The 30-year-old male truck driver was also taken to Gosford Hospital for medical assessment.
After his release from hospital, he was arrested and charged with two counts of dangerous driving occasioning death, and one count each of dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, negligent driving occasioning death and negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm.
The truck driver’s licence was suspended and he was granted conditional bail to appear in Gosford Local Court on August 21.
The crash completely closed the M1 northbound and closed one southbound lane, causing traffic to queue for kilometres.
One northbound lane was reopened at 6pm on Tuesday and all lanes were open on Wednesday morning, with no delays to traffic through the area.
