Twelve Australian Defence Force members remain in hospital after two military vehicles rolled in New South Wales. The soldiers had been assisting cyclone-affected communities in Lismore. Police are investigating the cause of the incident.
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00:00On a tough day for some of their military mates, men and women in uniform file into
00:08Lismore Base Hospital, where members of their team were taken after a major crash.
00:15In my 32 years of policing, it's the largest accident scene that I've been to.
00:2032 soldiers were travelling in two army trucks along a road in Tregeagle, outside Lismore,
00:26where both of the vehicles rolled.
00:28It was a very hectic scene when we arrived.
00:31We had patients of varying injuries up and down the roadway and certainly still had four
00:36persons trapped.
00:38All on board were taken to hospital and a mass emergency was declared.
00:44The troops from Queensland's 7th Brigade were in the northern rivers, helping communities
00:48clear up after ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
00:52This team of 32 had been engaged in route clearance work and were in transit from one
00:58task to another when the incident occurred.
01:02These men and women are heroes who are on their way to help people in need.
01:07They were doing this at a time when some of their own families were bearing the brunt
01:11of Alfred.
01:13The NSW Premier wants to make sure the support keeps coming.
01:16I don't want it to dampen the community's need, the state's need, the public's need
01:22for help every now and then.
01:24This afternoon a fresh round of help arrived in Lismore, as more soldiers from Queensland
01:29were given a tour by police, with conditions still treacherous in parts of the town.
01:37Visiting paramedics have also been playing a crucial role in northern NSW, plucking patients
01:43from flood zones with their world first fleet of ambulances designed to tackle rivers.
01:49The O'Hara vehicle is able to operate safely in a flood water depth of 1.2 metres and there
01:55have been multiple crossings at that depth through this deployment.
01:58The Prime Minister has praised the efforts of those involved in helping flood affected
02:02communities.
02:04Anthony Albanese and the Defence Minister Richard Miles today visited troops in Queensland.
02:09It's also expected they'll come here to northern NSW in the days ahead.