Two men have died in a major crash on the Sydney Harbour Bridge that brought the city to a standstill and saw a mum-to-be rushed to hospital.
Four cars and a bus collided just before 2pm on Thursday with emergency services arriving at the scene to find one man dead amongst the wreckage.
The male driver of another vehicle – who died at the scene a short time later – had to be cut free from the wreckage by fire crews.
Fortunately the bus had no passengers on board and the driver was uninjured.
Police said initial reports indicate that a head-on crash sparked the horror crash.
‘One vehicle travelling in the northbound lanes has veered across into the traffic in the southbound lanes resulting in the initial collision and then a number of other collisions,’ Acting Superintendent Clayton McDonald said.
Two other adults, including a pregnant woman, suffered minor injuries and were rushed to Royal North Shore Hospital.
The two other drivers involved will undergo mandatory testing, police said.
All southbound traffic on the bridge came to a halt and only one northbound lane remained open, causing traffic chaos in the city on Thursday afternoon.
Vision from the Harbour Bridge showed two hatchbacks and an SUV with major damage as well as debris spread across several lanes.
Police are now working to notify the next of kin of both victims.
A motorcyclist was arrested on the bridge after he allegedly breached the road block and drove through the crash scene.
At least three officers were seen pinning the motorcyclist to the ground in vision from the bridge captured by nearby motorists.
‘A gentleman who was riding a motorcycle entered the crime scene in an attempt to go past and get across the bridge,’ Superintendent McDonald said.
‘That gentleman drove towards police who stood in front of him and were able to stop him.’
The incident left one police officer with ‘minor bruising to his leg and some grazes on his hand’ while the motorcyclist was taken to Day Street police station.
Superintendent McDonald said initial inquires suggested the motorbike was unregistered and the rider’s licence was suspended.
He is expected to be charged with a series of driving offences.
Delays on the city side of the bridge saw traffic backed up as far as the Anzac Bridge and the Western Distributor.
Southbound lanes were closed for over an hour following the crash, causing traffic to back up to just south of the Spit Junction.
Delays could still effect commuters for several hours after two lanes in both directions began to open at 4.15pm.
Transport for NSW Coordinator-General Howard Collins urged motorists to avoid the area and consider alternative routes, including those travelling to Qudos Bank Arena for the Olivia Rodrigo concert on Thursday night.
Mr Collins said they had seen queues over 12km long.
NSW Police said a crime scene had been established.
Investigations are continuing and no arrests have been made.