Australia Post driver killed after cars slam into West Perth building

A regular Monday morning in Perth’s CBD turned to chaos when two vehicles collided on a freeway off-ramp and ploughed into an office building, killing an Australia Post employee. Emergency crews were called to the scene just after 7am, following reports that a Hyundai Tucson van, branded with a Star Track logo, and an Isuzu D-Max ute had crashed at the Mitchell Freeway off-ramp near Hay St. StarTrack is a subsidiary of Australia Post The force of the impact sent both vehicles off the road and into the first floor of a Hay St business, leaving behind a trail of twisted metal and shattered glass. The 74-year-old woman driving the Star Track van was critically injured and died at the scene. The 38-year-old man behind the wheel of the ute was taken to Royal Perth Hospital with minor injuries. No one inside the building was hurt, with staff evacuated before emergency services arrived. Shocking photos show the wreckage wedged into the side of the office, the ute crushed on top of the van, and vehicle parts strewn across the ground. A crane was later used to remove the mangled vehicles mid-morning. Witness Ben told Perth Now he was walking to work when the deafening crash stopped him in his tracks. “As I was crossing the bridge … I turned around to see a car landing in the window of that building,” Ben said. “It was quite a loud sound … loud impact and then the sound of the second impact of it hitting the building. I just saw the two cars that were stuck – one in the building, one underneath.” He said he rushed to help the trapped drivers. “I went over to see if I could help the drivers … (there was) no response from either,” he said. “I basically got (a man) out of the vehicle … I helped him out of the vehicle because we could get access to his door.” Department of Fire and Emergency Services incident controller Gareth Deeg described the scene as a “complex situation”. “Major crash are now on scene, so they’ll reconstruct the incident and they’ll work out what’s happened,” Mr Deeg told Perth Now. “It is a complex situation when vehicles leave the road and impact other structures, so this is going to be a drawn-out process.” Mr Deeg said the collision had also affected the structural integrity of the building. “There is going to be some structural assessments that will need to continue to be done throughout the day,” he said. Australia Post later confirmed the woman who died was a Star Track employee. “Australia Post is deeply saddened to confirm that a Star Track team member has tragically passed away following a serious traffic incident in West Perth this morning,” a spokesperson said. “We are focused on supporting her family and workmates, and our thoughts and condolences are with them at this difficult time.” Hay St was closed westbound for several hours but reopened later on Monday. Police have urged anyone who witnessed the crash or has dashcam footage to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or report online.