Truck ploughs into Bulls RSA - driver killed

Emergency services who arrived at the scene of a fatal crash faced the dual problems of a truck wedged into a possibly unstable building and a potential explosion risk from gas bottles the vehicle was carrying.

A 37-year-old Dannevirke man died at the scene yesterday after his southbound truck and trailer unit failed to take a slight bend and ploughed into the Bulls RSA. Another truck driver following called emergency services.

Bulls chief fire officer Brian Carter said he received the call-out at 3.47am and 12 volunteer firefighters arrived to find the truck was lodged under the verandah.

Mr Carter said they had a hard job to get the driver out of the cab because of the way the truck was lodged.

The truck had smashed through a street light and a metre of the pole was still in place under the truck. Emergency services had to wait for the electricity supply to be disconnected.

The trusses and studs of the verandah had smashed through the top of the cab and a big steel girder was in the passenger seat.

Once the driver was removed, a firefighter performed CPR on him but he died a short time later in an ambulance.

Mr Carter said there was potential for an explosion as the truck was carrying pressurised cylinders of oxygen, acetylene and LPG.

"We checked the vehicle and found a couple of the cylinders had worked themselves loose and fallen over."

The fear was that some of the valves had broken off but none were damaged in the crash.

Until they established the cylinders were intact, there were some anxious moments because the wooden RSA building was tinder dry.

The trailer unit was full of electrical apparatus and plastic piping. Diversions were in place around the accident scene for several hours but State Highway 1 was reopened by 9am.