POLICE say the Bruce Highway at Gympie will remain closed for hours yet as they work to clear the road after a horror smash earlier this morning.

Three semi-trailers, including a wide-load carrying a 71-tonne bridge support being escorted by police, and two cars, one a ute being driven by a man on his way to work, collided with horrific consequences about 5.30am.

The highway was blocked in both directions about 12km north of Gympie at Chatsworth after a semi-trailer travelling south-bound clipped a stationary semi which had pulled over to allow the wide-load to pass, heading north. It reopened around 1pm.

The semi-trailer has then clipped the wide load, run into the parked semi-trailer, ricocheted into one of the escort vehicles and has then collided head-on with a ute, also travelling north, being driven by a private citizen behind the wide-load.

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The impact of the collision meant the 71-tonne concrete bridge support being escorted north-bound was knocked off the wide-load and has fallen in a way that it has blocked the highway completely.

It got worse just after 11am when one of the diversion roads designed to detour motorists around the Bruce Highway near Gympie was closed in both directions due to a serious two-car crash.

The Gympie-Woolooga Rd was closed by police but reopened just before 1pm.

A man was airlifted to Nambour Hospital with cuts to his head and face and possible internal injuries while another man, driving a ute, was taken to hospital as a precaution.

The original incident took place about 3km south of the Wide Bay turn-off and police have warned the Bruce Highway will remain closed until it can be cleared.

A Queensland Ambulance Service spokeswoman said two people had been taken to hospital by paramedics, the driver of the semi-trailer who collided with the vehicles and the utility driver.

``There doesn’t seem to be any life-threatening injuries, though,’’ she said.

Queensland Fire and Rescue Service Gympie acting station officer Grant Feeney said it was lucky no one had been seriously injured.

``It didn’t look real good when we got out there,’’ he told The Courier Mail.

``We were fortunate that it didn’t result in worse injuries to people.

He said fire fighters spent the bulk of the morning working to contain a large diesel spill coming from one of the semi-trailers.

Motorists should avoid the area if possible although police diversions are in place along the Cooloola Coast for cars and trucks.

There are no diversions in place for B-double trucks, however and traffic is built-up in the area.

Originally published as Seven hours of chaos on highway