Three people have died after a bus crash on a major North Queensland highway.
The bus had 33 people on board when it and a car towing a caravan collided head-on on the Bruce Highway at Gumlu, south of Townsville, about 11am on Sunday.
Queensland Police Superintendent Graeme Paine told reporters that the three victims were female passengers on the bus.
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“We haven’t determined any factors that have contributed to the crash at this stage, but certainly a crash of this nature involving this many people is a very significant and very tragic incident for us,” he said.
Another person was airlifted to hospital.
He said that it was too soon to determine what the cause of the crash may have been.
“The investigation is at its early stage yet, and we have a number of specialists on scene that will work through the incident scene,” he said.
“They’ll forensically process the evidence and then we’ll look at that.
“We’ll look at other aspects of the investigation (including) witness statements to try and really put together what’s happened.”
The Forensic Crash Unit is investigating.
The bus landed on a train line following the crash.
The train service between Bobawaba and Gumlu, which operates on that line, has been paused while emergency services attend the scene, a Queensland Rail spokesperson told 7NEWS.com.au.
Traffic has been backed up following the crash, with the Bruce Highway closed in both directions for several hours.
Motorists were advised to avoid the area or expect long delays.