Truck fire death linked to South Australian COVID-19 border closure

A driver is dead after a three-truck collision caused a fatal fireball amid panic over a snap border closure.

The burnt-out shell of one of the trucks involved in the crash and fatal fire at a checkpoint at Bordertown. Picture: Channel 7

A truck driver is dead and one of the nation’s busiest highways ground to a halt after a three-truck collision caused a fatal fireball amid panic and confusion over the snap closure of South Australia’s border with Victoria.

Furious truck drivers are blaming the inferno on the sudden decision to close the border at midnight on Wednesday with just three officers in place at Bordertown to process vehicles on a stretch where between 2000 and 3000 trucks pass each night.

The logjam was made worse by regular motorists trying to make it across the border before the lockdown took effect.

SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens on Thursday said there would be a full inquiry into the circumstances of the crash.

The tragedy has prompted ­industry calls for a rethink by police, the government and other states that have closed their borders as to how snap decisions to lock people out can be better managed.

The fatal fire at a checkpoint at Bordertown. Picture: Channel 7

The boss of one of the affected truck companies, Freestone Transport managing director Paul Freestone, broke down on Melbourne radio station 3AW as he lashed out at the lack of police manpower on the border.

“There were only three officers on duty,” he said. “There’s no reason for these trucks to be stopped. Now there’s a brother or a father not coming home tonight.”

The tragedy has prompted a debate within the trucking industry about how border closures are managed.

SA Road Transport ­Association executive officer Steve Shearer said visibility should not have been a problem given how many trucks were lined up to cross into SA.

“You can have a debate about the management of the border closures but the general policy of police is to run these things smoothly, so what we are talking about in relation to this accident goes to the management of the queue rather than the lockdown,” he said. “We are going to have to wait for the investigation to find out what happened here.”

SA Freight Council chief executive Evan Knapp said police were “stuck in the middle” on the management of borders but that staffing levels were an issue.

“It’s a really hard balancing act between the closure of borders on health grounds to keep people safe while also letting people through who are exempt,” he said. “But one of the learnings out of this has to be the ability to get staff to the border faster so that when the guaranteed rush comes they are on top of things.”

Mr Stevens said SA had been maintaining border closures for almost a year without incident.