400 sheep dead as truck flips

The two-tier stock transport truck was travelling along Tocumwal Road near Corowa in heavy rain at 6.40pm when it hit a patch of mud on the side of the road.

The truck lost control and rolled across both lanes of the single carriageway, police said.

The 40-year-old driver, from Altona in Melbourne, suffered facial injuries and his 10-year-old son was treated for suspected spinal and chest injuries. They were both taken by ambulance to Wangaratta District Base Hospital.

Three hundred sheep were killed in the crash and 100 injured sheep were put down.

A temporary pen was set up to hold 50 uninjured sheep.

Police said the rig was travelling east from Corowa saleyards. The accident occurred in Mulwala near the NSW and Victorian border.

Inspector Lynelle Rodwell from Albury police station said the truck rolled onto the passenger side where the driver's son was sitting.

"They weren't trapped. He was able to get himself and his son out by kicking the windscreen," she said.

The truck did not collide with oncoming traffic, and the accident was reported to police by someone driving past.

"It doesn't indicate at all that speed was a factor. He has gone off to the left hand side in an attempt to correct the vehicle," Inspector Rodwell said.

"In doing so he has lost control, skidding in the opposite direction and tipping over."

The sheep were being driven to an Ararat abattoir.

A Corowa Shire Council ranger assisted with putting down the sheep and arranged for a tractor to remove the dead animals.

Police said weather was the probable cause of the accident and urged drivers to be extra vigilant when experiencing difficult driving conditions.

"There was lots of rain. We had thunderstorms all day yesterday and it was fairly dusty. Last night it just rained and rained and rained," Inspector Rodwell said.

Ambulance paramedics, firefighters, State Emergency Service volunteers, council staff and farmers also assisted police.

Albury police are investigating the cause of the crash