Man dies after truck and ute collide near Mount Gambier

A man from the South-East has died, while another man has been rushed to hospital after a truck and a ute collided outside Mount Gambier on Tuesday.

A driver of a light truck has died after colliding with a ute near Mount Gambier on Tuesday morning.

Police and emergency services were called to the collision on Glenelg Rive Road near Mount Schank just before 7am on Tuesday.

A 45-year-old man from the South-East died at the scene.

The driver of the HiLux ute, a 64-year-old man from Mount Gambier, was taken to Mount Gambier hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The ute from the fatal two-vehicle crash in Mount Schank. Picture: Arj Ganesan

Glenelg River Road is closed between Whites Flat Road and Laslett Road.

Major Crash officers are investigating the circumstances surrounding the fatal crash.

A witness who drove past the crash said emergency services were fighting to save a person trapped in the wreckage as he drove by.

Police have closed Glenelg River Rd at OB Flat between Whites Flat Road and Laslett Road after a truck and ute collided. Picture: Arj Ganesan

George Comley, a farm hand who works for Ardno Performance Livestock, said the crash occurred outside the front gate of the farm he was travelling to.

“I was going down to the farm and there were ambos going past,” he said.

“It looked like the truck was on the corner of the road on the left side heading southbound – and the ute was on the oncoming direction heading towards Mount Gambier.”

The truck from the fatal two-vehicle crash in Mount Schank. Picture: Arj Ganesan

Mr Comley said Glenelg River Road was not a particularly dangerous stretch of road, but people had to be careful because it was a main thoroughfare for trucks.

“That’s the third (major crash) in two months – there was that pedestrian that was hit as well,” he said.

The business of the deceased man has been contacted for comment.

The incident comes after a 38-year-old woman was killed and an eight-year-old critically injured in a horrific car crash near Mount Gambier.

The man’s death is the 43rd life lost on our roads this year, compared with 55 for the same time last year.