MULTIPLE emergency services responded to a crash near Selwyn over the weekend, where a truck had left the road and tumbled several times downhill before being stopped by a tree part-way down. A group of four, four-wheel-drivers were travelling west along the Blue Rag Range track on Saturday, 8 March, when one of the group attempted to navigate a difficult part of track, which had been affected by wombat holes. "The driver, a 25-year-old male, was struggling to negotiate the track and attempted to reverse," Acting Senior Sergeant, Romina McEwan from Bright police said. "The vehicle struck a bank causing it to roll three or four times down an embankment, approximately 30 metres. "The driver was trapped in the vehicle whilst the passenger was able to self-extricate." Bright SES Controller, Graham Gales, said removing the driver from the vehicle was itself a hurdle, before attempting the high-angle rescue. "Our unit attended the scene with eight SES members in three vehicles," Mr Gales said. “The Mount Beauty CFA were also called, because they're part of the high-angle rescue team. "Our main challenge was getting there, because the track was not in good condition and there was so much traffic on the roads over the weekend. "Once we got him up to the road, we were able to transport him to the Ambulance Victoria helicopter, higher up the mountain." The driver was successfully extricated from the vehicle by emergency service officers and airlifted to the Royal Melbourne Hospital with suspected fractured vertebrae.
