Highway hell claims life of driver

A HIGH-speed head-on smash on the Bruce Highway yesterday morning resulted in the death of a 31-year-old Warwick man and a B-double bursting into flames.

Picture: Craig Warhurst

A HIGH-speed head-on smash on the Bruce Highway yesterday morning resulted in the death of a 31-year-old Warwick man and a fully-laden B-double being destroyed by fire.

A north-bound Toyota Rav4 and a south-bound prime mover carrying a load of Bundaberg Ginger Beer collided just north of Tiaro at about 6.30am.

The driver of the Rav 4 died on the scene, still trapped in the crumpled wreck of his off-road vehicle, while the truck driver escaped his burning cabin with only minor injuries.

A motorist travelling behind the truck was the first on the scene and managed to pry his way through the wreckage of the 4WD to check the pulse of the driver.

It was too late.

“He had a big gash on the side of his head,” he said.

“It all happened so fast."

It took fire crews almost two hours to extinguish the blaze in the wreckage of the B-double.

Maryborough Fire and Rescue's acting station officer John Wheeler said his team was greeted with a large column of black smoke when they arrived at the scene.

“The truck was fully engulged in flames and the other vehicle was 100 metres away on the opposite side of the road,” Officer Wheeler said.

He said the truck's tyres started exploding and there were smaller explosions on the back of the B-double as hundreds of bottles of ginger beer blew up.

“Then the truck's fuel tanks erupted,” he said.

A Gympie Fire and Rescue crew was called to the scene to aid the Maryborough crews, who were running low on water, fight the growing inferno.

Gympie Station officer Kyle Dellitt said his team was confronted with a truck well on fire when they arrived at the accident site.

“Our first job was to start fire suppression on the prime mover because Maryborough had run out of water,” Officer Dellitt said.

The Gympie crew eventually extinguished the blaze, but was unable to save much of the truck.

“All the prime mover and half the B-double's trailer have been destroyed by fire,” Officer Dellitt said.

Police were still diverting traffic around the death scene while they investigated the accident yesterday afternoon..

Their investigations are continuing.

Originally published as Highway hell claims life of driver