Firefighters rescue dangling truck driver

MELBOURNE - A truck driver spent a nail-biting half-an-hour dangling off the edge of a bridge more than seven metres above the ground when his truck crashed in Melbourne today.

Police said the truck skidded on the wet surface of Dynon Road, in West Melbourne, and the cabin on the five-tonne truck smashed through the road barrier.

The truck was left balancing on the edge of the bridge over the Dynon Road rail yards.

Firefighters used an electric winch to secure the truck and brought in a cherry picker to reach the driver.

Metropolitan Fire Brigade Commander David Youssef said the driver climbed into the cherry picker to a waiting firefighter and paramedic.

A Metropolitan Ambulance Service spokesman said the man was given oxygen at the scene and was suffering some neck pain.

He was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital as a precaution and was in a stable condition, he said.

- AAP