A two-year-old girl and two adults in their 30s are dead after a man drove his car into oncoming traffic on a Queensland motorway.

The trio had no chance of escape after their SUV burst into flames following the head-on crash on the Ipswich Motorway on Wednesday night, Queensland Police said.

The 34-year-old male driver who rammed into the SUV was thrown from his sedan, which also caught fire. He died at the scene.

Police are investigating if drugs or alcohol were a factor in the crash at Redbank, and how the man came to be on the wrong side of the motorway.

“It was extremely graphic, very confronting for the emergency services crews that attended,” Acting Inspector Darren Green told reporters on Thursday.

“The male driver was ejected from the vehicle – some distance.

“The occupants of the SUV were unable to exit the vehicle and were located after the fire was extinguished.”

Emergency vehicles at the scene of Wednesday’s horror head-on smash on the Ipswich Motorway that left four people dead. (Photo: Stuart Bryce, ABC)

Police are piecing together CCTV footage to determine how long the man was driving the wrong way.

“We have received some reports of several witnesses observing the car on the wrong side of the motorway prior to the crash, exactly how long … we do not know,” Insp Green said.

There was nothing to suggest those who died knew each other.

“It seems to be a very tragic set of circumstances,” Insp Green said.

First responders found the bodies of the girl, a male passenger and a female driver in the SUV when they put the fire out.

“Clearly, those poor people in the four-wheel-drive had no chance,” Deputy Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski told Nine Network.

“They were doing everything they should be doing, driving on the right side of the road. Our investigations will be thorough, it will take some time for us to uncover what happened here.”

Police are appealing for anyone who saw the black sedan in the area before the crash to come forward.