A driver remains in hospital following a horror multi-truck crash which saw a B-double burst into flames on the Western Freeway last Friday morning.
Camera footage that captured the aftermath of the crash shows smouldering debris spread across the Western Freeway as flames and black smoke billow from the scene.
Police believe the fiery crash was caused by one truck rear-ending another near Hallets Way on the Western Freeway about 7.45am.
Police said the truck which had been struck veered across the road and skidded for several hundred metres before it burst into flames.
Television cameraman Bryce Holloway, who was driving a kilometre behind the trucks before they crashed, captured the footage. He said the scene looked like a “bomb going off”.
“It was just carnage,” he told media.
“Imagine a bomb going off, it’s like that. There’s debris everywhere.”
Road workers in the area ran to the crash site and used fire extinguishers to protect the injured man before administering first aid.
One driver was thrown from his cabin by the impact, eyewitnesses said.
A witness said he saw “a couple of trucks that are close to disintegration”.
“There’s many helicopters there, there’s police, there’s ambulances. It’s a disastrous scene,” he said.
He said he had recently contacted authorities about dangers along the stretch of road, which is being upgraded.
“I actually called VicRoads about this [section of road]. They’re putting in a second off-ramp on the Western Highway.”
Victoria Police Acting Senior Sergeant Mark Dunne said it was believed one of the trucks was leaving an emergency lane when another truck, in the left lane, hit the back of it.
Eastbound lanes near the crash scene were closed for more than six hours while emergency services and VicRoads officers cleared the scene.
Traffic was diverted through Bacchus Marsh via Bacchus Marsh Road.
One driver, a man in his 40s, was airlifted to The Alfred hospital with head injuries.
A spokeswoman from The Alfred said yesterday that the driver remained in a serious but stable condition.
Police said the other driver, a man aged in his 50s, was not seriously injured in the crash and is assisting police with their investigation.
– The Age
