A spectacular multi-vehicle tanker crash shut down the Hume Highway.

One man is dead, and more than 40,000 litres of fuel was spilt into a nearby creek.

Claudia Cuskelly reports.

TRANSCRIPT

Late Thursday night, the driver of this tanker lost control of the vehicle just outside Violet Town in Victoria.

It jackknifed and rolled, killing the 53 year old man.

Then, this blue car crashed into the back of the tanker completely smashing in the front half of the hatchback.

Amazingly, the 22 year old female driver managed to jump clear just before another truck crashed into the back of them.

Police are still investigating what went wrong.

Inspector Haydn Downes, Victoria Police: “They’ve seized the logbook as an exhibit and they’ll be doing a very thorough examination of that to see how many hours he’s actually put in.”

Authorities are concerned about the environmental impacts of the fuel spill as it has leaked into a nearby creek.

John Smith, Victoria Country Fire Authority: “We’ve got it under control because of the foam barrier. We’ve got crews doing testing down the creek line in towards Violet Town to see if there’s any fuel or vapours there.”

Part of the Hume Highway will remain closed until the area has been cleaned up, and police have warned residents to be careful of fumes.

Claudia Cuskelly QUT News.