JUSTIN Boulton jumped out of his truck to rescue a driver when a livestock carrier tipped onto its side after coming off the Melrose Drive exit of the Hume Freeway in Wodonga yesterday.
The driver received only minor cuts and scrapes after the truck landed on the driver’s door.
Mr Boulton, a Canny’s driver from Wangaratta, saw the truck as it rolled onto its side, parked his truck on Gadsden Street and rushed to the driver’s aid.
“I saw the truck tip, slammed on my brakes, got out and went over and pulled him out of his truck,” Mr Boulton said.
The accident, just before 11.30am, left dozens of sheep dead, and many others injured — some had to be shot by police at the scene.
Some sheep caused a few headaches as they scampered from the truck and onto the Hume Freeway, forcing police to attempt to slow traffic.
Several witnesses and passers-by helped herd the sheep out of the truck and away from the freeway and main roads.
Workers from the nearby abattoir brought two sheep dogs to help round up the runaway livestock.
Access to the freeway and the Wodonga train station was blocked for nearly three hours as sheep were herded across the road into a paddock on Gadsden Street.
A single lane of traffic trough Melrose Drive was opened at 2pm to allow access to the train station, as well as the freeway exit ramp.
Highway police had to work hard to keep traffic away from the area, however Sgt Cameron Roberts said it could have been worse.
“It was tricky given the accident occurred at an interchange,” Sgt Roberts said.
“But it hasn’t been impossible.”
Police dismissed suggestions from a truck driver that the camber of the exit road coming up onto Melrose Drive was the cause of the accident.
The truck driver, who did not want to be named, said the camber of the road was unsuitable for that sort of heavy load, labelling the exit “a deathtrap”.
“If there was a problem with the road we’d be here at this kind of crash every week.” Sgt Roberts said.
“We’re still looking into the reasons the truck tipped onto its side.”
“Trucks carrying livestock do tend to have a higher centre of gravity, but it’s too early to tell at this stage whether this contributed to the accident or not.”
