An Indian truck driver has died after losing control of his vehicle and slamming into a rest stop on a freeway in Victoria, hitting two parked trucks and causing a massive fireball.
The fiery crash happened just before 5am on Wednesday on the Hume Freeway, near Wangaratta, and the driver has since been identified as 39-year-old father-of-two, Baljinder Singh.
According to local Indian media Mr Singh was from a village called Reelan in the Hoshiarpur district of Punjab, and is being mourned by the local Punjabi community.
A GoFundMe set up to support Mr Singh’s family has raised $36,000 at the time of writing, and said he was his family’s sole breadwinner and responsible for a large mortgage.
Victoria Police said Mr Singh lost control of his B-double at the southbound Glenrowan rest stop, drove through vegetation and hit the other vehicles before catching fire.
Two other drivers were sleeping in the trucks that were struck by Mr Singh, and a 50-year-old man was taken to hospital with minor facial injuries while the other was uninjured.
Detective Inspector Craig McEvoy of the Major Collision Investigation Unit said the crash was being investigated by multiple agencies.
“Any road fatality is a tragedy,” he said.
“Fortunately the two other drivers have escaped … any significant injury.”
As of October 2, 222 people have been killed on Victorian roads this year so far, a 5.7% increase on the 210 at this point last year, and far above the five-year average of 188.
National road deaths are 4.3% higher than this time last year, and deaths per capita have increased 2.8% in the past 12 months.
Header image: Left, Baljinder Singh (GoFundMe). Right, the crash scene (Nine News).
