A truck driver was left with possible brain injuries after an horrific smash involving three trucks and two utes in heavy fog on the Hume Highway near Yass yesterday.
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A B-double truck, carrying a full load of fuel, had attempted to cross the highway in foggy conditions just after 7am yesterday at the intersection with Burley Griffin Way.
Police say a northbound truck ploughed into the rear carriage of the fuel tanker.
The impact caused the rear carriage of the B-double to roll, and large amounts of diesel were spilled on the road.
The front end of the northbound truck was crushed, and the 45-year-old male driver was left trapped for about two hours.
He was conscious when emergency services arrived, and had suffered critical head injuries, internal bleeding and other injuries.
The driver of the B-double was unharmed.
A third truck, also travelling northbound, came dangerously close to smashing into the other two trucks. But the driver had just managed to veer away from the crash, narrowly missing the rolled B-double, before leaving the road and crashing into an embankment.
Two northbound utes then crashed into the wreckage, leaving both drivers with minor injuries. The truck driver was eventually freed from the wreckage and placed in an induced coma.
He was airlifted by the Snowy Hydro SouthCare helicopter to Canberra Hospital in a critical but stable condition shortly before 10am.
He remained in a critical condition late yesterday.
Goulburn Police Inspector Mark Wall said heavy vehicle collisions were not uncommon on the highway and heavy fog had been a contributing factor to the crash.
Emergency services were working to remove the damaged vehicles and clean up the diesel fuel spilt on the road yesterday morning.
Northbound traffic on the Hume Highway was diverted for much of the morning, while police had warned motorists to avoid the affected area.
