A truck killed four police officers who had detained a drug-affected speeding driver in a collision on a Melbourne freeway, officials said yesterday.
The 41-year-old driver of a Porsche 911 who had on Wednesday evening been pulled over by police on the Eastern Freeway for speeding took grisly photographs of the crash scene that followed, Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said.
The driver then fled on foot and posted the images online, Ashton said, adding that the tragedy was the largest loss of police lives in a single incident in Victoria state.
Photo: AP
Yesterday, the driver of the refrigerated truck was under police guard in a hospital.
He suffered a medical episode after the crash and lost consciousness, but it was not clear whether the collision was an accident or deliberate, Ashton said.
The Porsche driver, who has a criminal record, was being questioned by homicide detectives, Ashton said.
He had been pulled over 50 minutes before the crash for driving 40kph above the speed limit, police said, adding that he tested positive for an illicit drug.
The police were in an emergency stopping lane arranging to impound the car when they were struck.
The truck hit the back of a police car, spinning it out of the lane, before crashing into the Porsche, which became wedged under the truck’s cabin.
The three male officers and one female died at the scene.
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