Eyre Highway closed after truck catches fire carrying chemicals on SA-WA freight route

A fire in a truck carrying hazardous materials in South Australia’s far west has forced the closure of the state’s main road thoroughfare with Western Australia.

Police and the Country Fire Service (CFS) were called to the Eyre Highway at Coorabie, about 100 kilometres west of Ceduna, just before 4am following reports that a truck had caught fire.

Police said the driver of the truck escaped without injury and unhooked one of the trailers.

The CFS said a large amount of a chemical the truck had been carrying had spilled on the road and there was also a large amount of toxic smoke.

It said the chemical is believed to be cyanide-based, and that two CFS trucks were on the scene.

The Eyre Highway has been closed in both directions and is expected to remain closed for some time.

It was not the only major incident on the state’s regional roads this morning.

About 6:15am, a truck travelling on the Augusta Highway left the road and crashed into a tree.

The crash happened at Miranda, south of Port Augusta, and the driver has been taken to hospital with serious injuries.

Taxi driver stabbed at Tintinara

Meanwhile, a taxi driver has been stabbed by his passenger on the Dukes Highway at Tintinara in the state’s Murray Mallee region.

The driver reported he had been stabbed by his female passenger around 6:45am.

The driver was taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries and police arrested the passenger, who was still inside the taxi.

Police said the woman was expected to be charged later this morning.