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Truck ACCIDENT Bolte Bridge Melbourne DRIVER FALLS 65 feet and LIVES - BREAKING NEWS
- Published_at:2013-05-17
- Category:News & Politics
- Channel:Kiddemcee3
- tags:
- description: BREAKING - Truck Accident Bolte Bridge Melbourne freeway DRIVER FALLS 65 feet and LIVES There are reports a truck is hanging off the side of the Bolte Bridge in Melbourne following an accident. A key section of one of Melbourne's busiest roads will remain closed for hours after a spectacular crash saw a truck driver fall 20 metres from an overpass - and survive. It is believed the truck may have swerved when it was involved in a collision with a car about 6.30am Friday. It then flipped and almost tumbled off a section of CityLink in North Melbourne, near the Bolte Bridge. By early afternoon, the truck was still dangling precariously as emergency crews used a crane to try to move the vehicle, which may have been carrying a bobcat at the time of the crash. The traffic diversions are likely to continue into the afternoon peak.And the truck driver, who was treated at the bottom of the overpass onto Mark Street before being rushed to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, was in a critical condition and fighting for his life with head and pelvic injuries. The male driver of the car is in a stable condition at The Alfred hospital. Metropolitan Fire Brigade Assistant Chief Officer Adam Dalrymple said it appeared t he truck driver had swerved to avoid a car that had suddenly veered in front of him. ''From all reports the car veered across and the truck took some evasive action and that's how the incident began,'' he said. ''It's a pretty intense, horrific sort of incident.'' Cranes have been brought in to secure the dangling truck and to safely remove it later on Friday. The crash also cracked a brick wall on a building beneath the bridge. Fire crews are examining the building to make sure the damage doesn't cause it to collapse. Map data ©2013 Google - Terms of Use Report a map error View Larger Map Chris Hayes, a manager at nearby Reece Plumbing, said the sound of the truck falling over was like a ''clap of thunder'' that lasted between five and 10 seconds. A local factory worker told radio station 3AW how he was first to arrive at the scene after hearing a crash and finding the truck driver on the road. The man, who asked to remain anonymous, said it appeared a street light may have broken the truck driver's fall. He comforted the injured man as he fell in and out of consciousness and reassured him after he told his comforter of his fears of dying. Police survey the scene as the truck hangs dangerously. Police survey the scene as the truck hangs dangerously. Photo: Pat Scala Emergency services are working to reopen the freeway before evening peak. CityLink is closed inbound at Flemington Road, creating traffic chaos for city-bound commuters. Motorists are being forced to exit at Flemington Road and the Racecourse Road entry ramp is closed. VicRoads said drivers travelling through the area should seek an alternative route and that traffic in the area and on roads through the tollway is very heavy. A police spokesman said there was "a big mystery as to how it [the accident] happened" and that a crane had been ordered to pull the truck back from the brink. A CityLink spokeswoman said the accident happened at 6.35am. Traffic was banked back to Bell Street, she said. She urged all inbound motorists using the Tullamarine Freeway to seek an alternative route or catch public transport. The outbound lanes of the tollway are open, allowing motorists to reach the airport. The spokeswoman said traffic was slowing so drivers could look at the crash. She said it was not known when the inbound lanes would reopen but it would be ''hours'' away, or if they would be open for the evening peak. MFB operations commander Peter Egan told ABC Local Radio that an engineer would be called in to assess the road and cranes would be needed on and below the freeway to clear the wreckage. "We're looking at somewhere between four and six hours [until the road can reopen]," he said. "We hope it will be open for the evening peak, if not I'll be disappointed." A witness told 3AW that the truck was "just hanging over the edge" of the road, above the overpass with Macaulay train station, and was being held back by its trailer. "We'd just missed our 6.20 train when about 6.30 we heard a huge rumble. The noise was something I've never heard before," Mr Prior said. Mr Hocking thought a train had crashed."When you stand on the platform, you can see a billboard that, at that time, was blindingly white. We were looking at the billboard, and the truck was basically a black outline against it. It was very eerie," Mr Hocking said. Age photographer Pat Scala, who is at the scene, said the driver had apparently fallen out of his cabin onto a road beneath CityLink -- a drop of "about 20 metres".
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