One dead in fiery truck crash
One person has been killed and another seriously injured in a fiery collision between a truck and a ute near Matamata.
A rural worker said he heard screams and yelling as the wreckage of the truck was engulfed in flames beneath State Highway 27, in Waharoa, soon after the crash happened about 6.30am yesterday.
Whiteline Transport employee Rob Russell heard a sharp bang shortly after he arrived at work about 6am.
‘‘When I was first coming out of the sheds I thought it was some wicked thunder. Then I realised maybe it’s an accident,’’ he told Stuff.
By then the truck was in flames on the railway lines below. A second bang followed as another part of the vehicle exploded.
‘‘That was obviously the diesel tank of the truck.’’
They were ‘‘billowing flames’’ that reached the height of the railway bridge.
Russell heard some yelling and screaming, and saw flashlights up and down the bank in the distance. The truck burned for about an hour, he said.
‘‘It looked pretty freaky, I didn’t want to get much closer to be honest.’’
Cars were travelling back and forth along the highway after the crash occurred before emergency services arrived, he said. Police confirmed in the afternoon that one person was killed in the crash.
A St John spokesperson said one person with critical injuries was flown to Waikato Hospital by helicopter.
When Stuff visited the scene yesterday morning, police, a crane and tow-truck were attending to the contorted, burnt-out truck. The railway track is shut and cordons are in place on the highway.
KiwiRail field production manager Dennis Leroux said he and other field workers were waiting near the scene to repair the railway lines.
‘‘It could take some time to clear, and we don’t know how bad the damage will be,’’ Leroux said. Police have asked motorists to avoid the area.
‘‘It looked pretty freaky, I didn’t want to get much closer to be honest.’’ Rob Russell