mmg.com.au

Two Queensland truck drivers are in serious conditions after their B-double veered off the Goulburn Valley Hwy near Katunga this morning and burst into flames.

Numurkah police Sergeant Dean Mosdall said the truck, carrying general freight, was travelling north when it drifted onto the other side of the road and into a paddock at about 3 am.

It came to rest about 200 m north of Kemps Rd on an electric fence and caught fire.

Two truck drivers from Queensland – a 27-year-old man and a 48-year-old man – were in the vehicle travelling from Melbourne to Brisbane.

One was driving and the other was asleep in the truck’s bunk.

‘‘They might have been thrown in the truck or thrown out of it but we got here and they were out,’’ Sgt Mosdall said.

Ambulance Victoria spokesman John Mullen said one received burns to the legs and a fractured shoulder and was taken to the Goulburn Valley Base Hospital.

The 27-year-old suffered a fractured skull and was airlifted to The Alfred.

Both are in a serious condition.

Sgt Mosdall said it took CFA fire-fighters two-and-a-half hours to get the fire, which was confined to the truck, under control.

He said inquiries into the cause of the blaze were continuing.

‘‘There’s a bit a diesel, it could have made a spark. It also came to rest across an electric fence,’’ he said.

Sgt Mosdall said the about 10 km stretch of highway between Katunga and Numurkah would be closed for some time with VicRoads diversions in place.

‘‘They’re going to need extensive recovery equipment to shift all the mess that’s here,’’ he said.

He said the truck was completely destroyed and the two men, despite their serious conditions, were lucky.

‘‘It’s buggered – there’s no truck to speak of,’’ Sgt Mosdall said.

‘‘They’re extremely lucky.’’

No cars were coming in the opposite direction when the crash occurred.

Firefighter Jason Cox spoke to mmg.com.au at the scene - view the video on the right of the page