THE driver was trapped for 90 minutes and 20 sheep killed when a livestock truck overturned on Ophir Road on Tuesday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Just after 8am a truck carrying sheep was travelling north along Ophir Road, near the fourth crossing, when it left the road and rolled on to its roof.
Orange’s Fire and Rescue NSW, a crew from Clifton Grove Rural Fire Service and paramedics, worked to free the man from the truck.
Station officer Brad Monico said the driver was trapped by compression and the rescue was protracted with the first priority to stabilise the truck.
“We couldn’t just open the door to set him free. We braced the truck so it couldn’t tip over and to make (the scene) safer so no one else gets injured,” he said.
“We spread the truck apart so paramedics could stabilise him and we could free him, we had to be careful where we were cutting and spreading due to the nature of the accident.”
Cabonne Shire Council staff closed the road at 8.45am and re-opened it at 1.30pm.
Canobolas Local Area Command’s Chief Inspector Peter Atkins said police had not drawn any conclusions about the cause of the accident but an investigation was underway.
“The male driver, who is believed to have been in his 60s, has been trapped for a length of time and was released about 9.30am,” he said.
“A number of sheep have also been injured and killed upon impact and the operation will continue through-out the day. Some (sheep) have run off, some have been injured and killed upon impact, and some of them need to be put down.”
Chief Inspector Atkins said it was estimated there were 100 sheep being carried by the truck, 20 were killed, with five euthanised after the accident.
The driver was taken to Orange Health Service where he remains in a serious, but stable condition.