Two people have been seriously injured in a crash that closed the Princes Highway at Berry for two hours.
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A man and a woman were trapped in their respective cars, following a head-on collision about four kilometres north-east of the township, Friday afternoon.
One of the cars caught alight before a passing motorists used a fire extinguisher to put out the blaze.
The accident occurred on 100km/h-zoned stretch of roadway, on the new Berry bypass, at about 4.15pm. A third car which had been travelling towards Berry was also caught up in the collision.
Fairfax understands the trapped parties’ cars came to rest 30-40 metres apart.
An ambulance rescue chopper transported the most seriously injured of the drivers, a 60-year-old woman, to St George Hospital.
The woman suffered chest and leg injuries.
A 34-year-man who was driving the second car suffered arm and other injuries.
He was removed from the wreckage in line with spinal precautions and taken by road ambulance to Wollongong Hospital.
He remained at the hospital last night in a serious but stable condition.
Firefighters, police, SES and RFS volunteers flooded the highway roadway as the rescue and clean-up efforts got underway.
The doors were wrenched off at least one of the cars – a blue station wagon – as part of the emergency response.
The crash occurred a short distance from Austral Park Road.
It caused lengthy traffic delays on the highway and in Berry township, as motorists were advised to avoid the area or take alternative routes.
The roadway was re-opened about 6.15pm.