A driver who slammed his car into a tree in rural Queensland killing two passengers was working as a carer to the pair, police have revealed.
Emergency crews were called to Callemonda Road and Mary Valley Road in Brooloo, near Gympie about 170km north of Brisbane, at 2pm on Monday after a Suzuki Kizashi collided with a tree.
Two passengers, an 83-year-old Kandanga man who was sitting in the front seat and an 85-year-old Gympie woman in the back seat, died at the scene.
The driver of the vehicle, 61-year-old Stuart Daryl Gray, from Valdora, was charged with two counts of manslaughter on Tuesday morning.
He was flown to Sunshine Coast University Hospital with serious injuries but is expected to recover.
He remains under police guard and the matter was mentioned in Gympie Magistrates Court on Tuesday where bail was not applied for.
Police told Daily Mail Australia they will allege that the driver knew the passengers ‘in a professional capacity’.
The car is understood to have left the road and struck the tree head-on.
The corner of Callemonda Road and Mary Valley Road in Brooloo where the Suzuki hit a tree
Superintendent Brad Inskip said police understand the driver was a carer for the elderly passengers who were killed in the crash.
‘We now believe that that crash was not an accident, but a deliberate act,’ Superintendent Inskip said.
‘I can say that the two victims… were related, and their relationship with the driver was in a professional manner… he was employed as a carer.’
The matter will return to court on May 29.
Investigators have asked anyone who may have more information, or dashcam footage of the crash, to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
