Driver dies after truck rolls over and ignites

A TRUCK driver has died after his vehicle rolled and caught fire on a North Queensland highway.

Emergency services were called to the Gregory Developmental Rd, near Belyando Crossing two hours south of Charters Towers, about 1.15pm on Sunday after reports a semitrailer had run off the road.

The 42- year- old West Australian driver was declared dead at the scene. A Queensland Fire and Emergency Services spokeswoman said the truck rolled and caught fire with the driver trapped.

She said the prime mover had a flat tray trailer with no load. The fire was confined to the engine bay and cabin.

Passers- by were able to extinguish the blaze before fire crews arrived. The crash site was 4km north of the Belyando Roadhouse.

Acting Inspector Graeme Patterson said the remoteness of the site posed a significant obstacle for the emergency services’ response.

“A heavy vehicle has overturned and unfortunately the driver has been trapped in the vehicle and has died as a result of the crash,” he said. “The truck had veered off the road and it jackknifed when it corrected and overturned.

“One of the obstacles that emergency services suffered there was just distance and time to get to the scene and then commence the recovery progress because of the remote location.”

Forensic Crash Unit officers are investigating the incident but Insp Patterson said it was too early to determine why the truck veered off the road.

Insp Patterson said the incident was part of a terrible weekend on Queensland roads, with five people dying.

“This is an opportune time to remind people to remember the fatal five,” Insp Patterson said. “Watch your speed, don’t drink and drive, take regular rest breaks, don’t use your phone while you are driving, and wear your seatbelt.”