A local truck driver who was two minutes behind the crash told the Herald the shell-shocked truck driver involved in the accident got out of the cab and sat on a nearby bank.
“I went up to him and comforted him. Another lady did the same until the first police car arrived,” he said.
“I started throwing dirt on the road because there was diesel running down the road because of the crack to the fuel tank.”
He said the truck driver was initially in shock following the crash, but “went downhill an hour later. He was really bad.”
He described the scene as “a bloody mess”.
Maryana Garcia is a Hamilton-based reporter covering breaking news in Waikato. She previously wrote for the Rotorua Daily Post and Bay of Plenty Times.