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A 23-year-old man has died after the car he was driving crashed into a tree and smashed into pieces in Perth, with the confronting scene "traumatising" police.
Officers had been pursuring the black Holden Statesman on Canning Highway in Attadale, in Perth's southern suburbs, just moments before the impact.
Police say officers spotted the speeding car driving east on Canning Highway in Attadale about 4.40am today, activating their lights and sirens.
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Seconds later, the car collided with a tree on the median island, with nearby CCTV capturing the moment of impact as police pursued closely behind.
Locals were woken in the middle of the night by the sound of the crash and rushed to help.
"I got up straight away because I thought maybe I'd be able to help so I ran out and I was there within a second of it happening," witness Tom Fay said.
The impact was so significant, the car not only split in half but was ripped apart, with debris and pieces of the vehicle scattered for metres over both sides of the highway.
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The 23-year-old male driver died from injuries sustained at the scene.
"The policeman, he looked very traumatised," Fay said.
"He was shaking, he was very traumatised. There's no question about that."
The 23-year-old man's family is the latest in mourning as this year's road toll increases – now the worst its been in a decade in WA, with 128 killed so far this year.
