Ute driver could hold key

A MAN driving a green ute might hold the key to identifying the cause of a crash which killed a Townsville man.

An 11-year-old girl is also fighting for her life after the fatal crash between a motorbike and a dual cab ute at Erakala, near Mackay, just before 2pm on Saturday.

Investigators are now searching for a witness who may have been first on scene.

Police officers from the Forensic Crash Unit want to speak to an elderly man who was driving a green Ford utility east on Sugarshed Rd that day.

It is believed he may have been one of the first motorists to come across the scene and could assist. Police have asked him or anyone else with information to come forward.

The 59-year-old Townsville man had been riding a motorbike with the young girl as pillion when they crashed.

He died at the scene while the girl was flown to Townsville Hospital where she remains in a critical condition.

The 30-year-old male driver of the dual cab ute was not injured.