A MAN was briefly trapped when the B-double he was driving carrying livestock rolled over on the Coleraine-Balmoral Road on Monday leaving multiple cattle killed and several needing euthanising.
The incident happened just south of the township of Balmoral and required the road to be blocked to oncoming traffic.
Hamilton Police Highway Patrol leading senior constable, Ben Carroll said the accident occurred at about 12.25pm on Monday.
“A B-double truck carrying cattle heading north on the Coleraine-Balmoral Road, very close to Balmoral, about a kilometre and a half out of town, rolled over.
“The driver was a 54-year-old man from South Australia (and) was able to be free himself and called Triple-Zero.
“He was transported to the Hamilton Base Hospital for assessment and was admitted overnight with minor injuries.”
Ldg Sen Const Carroll said in total there were around 74 head of cattle on board, of which 44 had to be euthanised.
He said it was a multiple emergency service effort with local CFA in attendance, SES crews, police, Agriculture Victoria and Ambulance Victoria, most of whom remained on site for the clean up until 10pm Monday night.
“Heavy haulage guys from Horsham were there to get the truck upright to remove it,” Ldg Sen Const Carroll said.
“Investigations are ongoing – we will be investigating fatigue, speed, driver distraction, those types of things.”
A CFA spokesperson advised that four CFA units alongside SES responded to the vehicle incident in Balmoral at around 12.25pm.
“Units responded from Balmoral, CFA rescue Casterton, and the Vasey brigade,” they said.
“Agriculture Victoria and a veterinarian were called to the scene.
“The incident was deemed under control at 2.10pm and safe at 4.16pm.”
Balmoral SES Unit volunteer, Phil Rees said it was a big effort from all agencies over several hours.
“It turned out to be a pretty big job,” he said.
“I got the callout about 12.30 Monday. I crawled into bed at 12.30am Tuesday morning.
“We had to open the truck up to get live cattle out (and) managed to save around 30 cattle.
“It was a big effort to get the trailers apart.
“The driver somehow managed to get himself out of the cab – that was a miracle. He’s very fortunate.”
