Police are trying to piece together how a fiery truck and car crash occurred on a straight North Queensland highway in broad daylight, in which a baby boy was orphaned.
The child's dad, 34, and mum, 37, were killed in the head-on collision with the truck on the Bruce Highway at Conn Creek, north of Townsville, on Tuesday afternoon.
The eight-month-old, who was strapped into a child safety seat, was pulled from the burning Subaru wreck, which burst into flames on impact.
Senior Constable Russ Parker says the boy was lucky to be alive.
"To survive a head-on collision at those sort of speeds, given the vehicles involved, that's amazing," he told reporters on Wednesday.
Senior Constable Parker said rescuers had shown "absolute bravery and courage ... to overcome (the) flames" to save the child.
"It's a fantastic effort."
The boy was taken to Townsville hospital, where he remains in a stable condition.
Senior Constable Parker said initial investigations suggest the car may have moved into the path of the truck.
The child's parents are among 92 Queenslanders killed on the state's roads in 2019 and follow a horror last 10 days when 19 people died.
Police have appealed for witnesses and anyone with dash-cam footage of the silver Subaru Forrester station wagon involved in the crash.
