Three boys survive car crash in Brisbane

Three 15-year-old boys were pulled from the wreck of their allegedly stolen four-wheel drive moments before it burst into flames.

The boys allegedly stole the Toyota RAV a short time before crashing it into a concrete retaining wall on Somerset Street, in the inner Brisbane suburb of Windsor, just before 2am on Tuesday, police say.

Residents who woke to the sound of the crash helped pull the boys to safety shortly before the car caught alight.

"These young lads had hit the wall at a reasonable speed and done extensive damage to the front of the vehicle," Queensland Ambulance Service's Operations Supervisor Peter Batt said.

"From the accounts given to us from bystanders, one of the lads had a difficult time getting out of the vehicle ... by the time they got him out there was smoke and flames coming from under the engine bay and it wasn't long after that that the vehicle was certainly well alight."

The boys were taken to hospital with one suffering a serious abdominal injury.

The other two had broken wrists, and one of the boys also broke his leg.

Mr Batt said they were lucky to be alive.

"They were certainly very fortunate to get away with only the injuries that they received," he said.

Police investigations are continuing and officers have appealed for witnesses or motorists with dashcam footage to contact them.