A 65-year-old man will front court next month over a fiery crash on the M1 Princes Motorway at West Wollongong which claimed the lives of a man and a woman on Friday.
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Emergency services were called to the scene near Mount Keira Road overpass, where six vehicles - including two heavy vehicles - had somehow collided about 2.10pm.
Police believe a silver Ford Territory travelling south and a Prime Mover (Mack Truck) with a dog trailer attached have initially collided.
As a result four more vehicles - a Mitsubishi Pajero, an Isuzu rigid truck, a Honda Odyssey, and a Toyota Prado - were also impacted.
Subsequently, the Mitsubishi Pajero and an Isuzu truck became engulfed in flames.
Ambulance crews arrived on the scene within four minutes and worked with NSW Fire and Rescue crews as they battled to extinguish the blaze, which was so intense it damaged the overhead bridge.
The driver and passenger of the Mitsubishi Pajero were trapped in the vehicle and died at the scene.
The driver of the Isuzu truck, a 47-year-old from Cordeaux Heights, managed to free himself prior to it being alight and was uninjured.
Five drivers were conveyed to hospital for mandatory blood and urine testing.
The occupants of the Honda driven by a 30-year-old man from Auburn, Toyota driven by a 51-year-old woman from Orange, Isuzu truck driven by a 47-year-old man from Cordeaux Heights, and the Prime Mover driven by a 42-year-old woman from Albion Park were uninjured.
Following investigations, police arrested the driver of the Ford Territory - a 65-year-old Lansdowne man. He was taken to Wollongong Police Station where he was charged with dangerous driving occasioning death-drive manner dangerous (x2), and negligent driving occasioning death.
He was granted conditional bail to appear at Wollongong Local Court on July 23.
A report will be prepared for the information of the Coroner.
Roads around the CBD remained clogged for hours after the fatal accident as people tried to avoid the area and make their way home via backstreets.
All southbound lanes remained closed and cars diverted for more than six hours as investigators examined the scene and worked to clear the wreckage.
