A motorcycle rider has been killed in a crash on the Bass Highway only hours after he arrived in the state on the Spirit of Tasmania.
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The 59-year-old Victorian man was on a national run with the Outlaws Motorcycle Club when he died in the crash about 9.30am on Friday at Elizabeth Town.
The man was one of about 135 to arrive in Tasmania in the past few days for a private gathering of the club in the northern part of the state.
Deloraine Acting Inspector Rick Newman said investigations had begun into the cause of the crash.
"One of them appears to have come off which has caused a bit of a chain reaction by the look of it," he said.
Two other riders were taken to Launceston General Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
One lane of the Bass Highway was closed for more than four hours on Friday while police investigated and then cleared the scene.
Two classes from the Devonport Primary School were on an excursion to Hagley Farm when the crash happened.
School principal Jo Hillman confirmed “students may have witnessed an accident scene on the highway, including emergency vehicles on-site”.
As the motorcycle club’s run continued after the fatality, police intercepted riders on the Midland Highway at Symmons Plains.
Tasmania Police Northern Commander Brett Smith said the operation involved more than 60 officers and was aimed at ensuring the riders’ activity was “lawful”.
It involved licence and registration checks, and random alcohol and drug tests.