Horrifying moment truck carrying tonnes of explosives ERUPTS and sends huge mushroom cloud kilometres into the sky – and the driver miraculously walks away ALIVE

• Truck was carrying a load of ammonium nitrate emulsion, used in mining
• The driver was able to escape in time after one of the wheels caught fire 
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A road train carrying tonnes of mining blasting material caught fire and exploded, sending a mushroom cloud of hazardous smoke into the sky. 

One of the vehicle’s wheels caught fire near Cosmo Newbury – about 1,000km east of Perth in the remote West Australian Goldfields region – with the truck driver frantically decoupling his truck from the load.

The driver managed to get a safe distance away before his ammonium nitrate emulsion cargo exploded.

The blast – which occurred about 12pm on October 24 – was so big it left a 1.5m deep crater in the middle of the road.

The truck exploded, sending a mushroom cloud (pictured) of hazardous smoke into the sky and leading police to call a 2km exclusion zone

Burning debris from the explosion started several small spot fires in the surrounding bushland, the ABC reported.

The explosion was so loud, it was heard and felt far into the distance. An investigation is now underway. 

A contractor at the Gruyere gold mining operation – which was where the truck was headed – said the blast was felt by workers there.

‘The blast shock wave was felt throughout the mine site buildings 40 kilometres away,’ the man, who did not want to be named, told ABC.

‘They ran out to see what went wrong and saw a huge white smoke ammonium cloud up in the air.’

Gruyere mine’s emergency response team and local police attended the scene.

The police were able to set up a two-kilometre exclusion zone around the trailer before it exploded.

A Western Australia Department of Fire and Emergency officers arrived at the scene shortly after the blast.

Road crater: The truck was scuttled by its driver after one of the wheels caught fire near Cosmo Newbury, about 1,000 kilometres east of Perth

An inspection was carried out after the explosion to determine if the area was safe before the incident was taken over by the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS).

Samples were collected for analysis to help identify the cause of the explosion.

‘While dangerous goods are transported on WA’s roads daily, the storage, movement and handling of these goods is strictly controlled,’ said Steve Emery, a director at DMIRS.

The blast – which occurred about 12pm on October 24 – was so big it left a 1.5m deep crater (pictured) in the middle of the road

The blast near Cosmo Newbury is, however, follows other resource-related accidents being investigated, after two people died in WA mines within three days last month.

Laverton Shire president Pat Hill said it was very fortunate that no one was injured in the October 24 explosion.

‘It’s lucky it happened out there where no one was around, not driving through a town like Laverton, Kalgoorlie or Coolgardie,’ he said.

A report on the ammonium nitrate emulsion blast is expected in the coming days.

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