Crashed tanker stays put on Haast Highway until specialist equipment arrives

Attempts are made to salvage a crashed fuel tanker off the Haast Pass road yesterday afternoon. Photo / Tim Miller, Otago Daily Times

A crashed tanker proved impossible to move from State Highway 6 in South Westland yesterday.

A SouthFuels tanker carrying about 16,000 litres of diesel crashed about 7.30am, blocking half of the Haast Pass road near Pleasant Flat.

It appeared the tanker driver veered to the side of the highway and the road gave way under the weight of the vehicle, Senior Constable Paul Gurney, of Haast, said.

The driver was uninjured and the diesel stayed in the tanker, but moving the massive truck proved impossible.

A salvage crew was sent up from Invercargill with a crane and a trailer, but when they arrived it became clear the crane would not be enough.

A police spokeswoman said the truck would remain in place for at least another day while specialist equipment was brought from Dunedin.

A 200m section of the road was reduced to one lane for most the day but had to be closed while the tanker was emptied by a specialist recovery team from Dunedin.

The road would stay one lane until the tanker was removed.

Emergency services from Lake Hawea, Makarora, Haast and Wanaka all attended the crash.

Gurney said the situation could have been a lot worse if the driver had been injured or the tanker had ruptured.

"I think we can say in this instance we are very lucky - lucky the driver was uninjured, lucky no fuel leaked and lucky someone was able to raise the alarm."

The tanker narrowly missed a large concrete culvert. which could have caused a rupture if hit.

A member of the public had to drive from the crash site to Haast about 45km away, because of a lack of cellphone coverage.

Gurney said ice on the road meant the trip took 10 to 15 minutes longer than usual.