AN Irish tradesman has been killed in a horrific 11-vehicle crash on a motorway in Sydney, Australia.
The 36-year-old, who is yet to be named, was driving to work on the M4 at Mays Hill in Sydney's western suburbs when the pile-up occurred at around 5.50am on Thursday morning.
New South Wales Police said they believe one truck and 10 cars were involved in the smash as they confirmed the Irish national had died at the scene.
Several others were injured and paramedics brought five people to hospital, while all drivers underwent mandatory drug and alcohol testing.
The Irish consulate in Sydney has confirmed they are offering consular assistance to the family of the deceased.
He is understood to have lived in the Wentworthville area of Sydney just a short distance from the scene of his death.
One of the 11 vehicles involved in the pile-up failed to stop at the scene, police also confirmed.
While investigators do not believe the driver caused the crash, they are appealing for them to come forward as they may have vital information into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Crash Investigation Unit Commander Inspector Katie Orr said: "We want to speak with this driver to find what they know about the events leading up to the crash.
"We also want to speak with any drivers who may have witnessed the crash and left the area or have relevant dash-cam footage."
Ambulance Inspector Andrew Wood told Sydney radio station 2GB that four teams of paramedics were deployed to the scene of the smash.
"It was an extremely distressing scene for all emergency services on arrival," he said.
"There was debris and the accident was actually spread out over approximately 200 metres."
The pile-up caused five hours of disruption and a 9km-long tailback on Thursday morning but all citybound lanes have since re-opened.
