A man has died after being struck by a truck at the Mugga Lane Resource Management Centre. Photo: James Coleman.
A 78-year-old man has died from “non-survivable brain injuries” after being hit by a truck, becoming Canberra’s sixth road death for 2025.
Police and ACT Ambulance Service paramedics were called to Mugga Lane Resource Management Centre at about 2:45 pm last Wednesday (1 October) after reports a man was hit by a reversing truck and pushed into a rubbish collection area.
Emergency services treated the man at the scene before he was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Late on Friday (10 October), Detective Acting Sergeant Nathan Smorhun said police were informed that he died from his injuries that day.
“At the moment, it looks like the elderly gentleman was just near the general waste pit … [The collision] has caused him to fall into the pit, striking his head and unfortunately causing some non-survivable brain injuries.”
He said the man had been at the facility with a family member.
As the location is considered a road-related area and regularly accessed by the public, police say it is being counted as a road fatality.
“If the public have access to it and able to get a vehicle into that area, then it’s classified as a regulated area.”
ACT Road Policing’s Major Collision Team and WorkSafe ACT are investigating the circumstances of the collision.
A report is also being prepared for the Coroner.
Detective Acting Sergeant Smorhun said the truck driver has been assisting police, describing it as something that appears to be “an unfortunate incident” at this stage.
The truck driver and the man were unknown to each other.
The 78-year-old is the sixth person to die on Canberra’s roads this year.
On the same day in March, a cyclist died after a collision with a car in central Canberra, and a bus and motorcycle collided in Nicholls.
The following month, a man from Sydney died several weeks after being involved in a single-vehicle crash in Watson.
Over the October long weekend, a Palmerston 56-year-old man failed to make a right-hand bend in the road and hit a tree. He would die at the scene.
In the fourth fatality, a pedestrian died in late September after being struck by a light rail vehicle.
There were 11 road deaths in 2024.
Anyone who can assist with information in relation to this matter (and has not already spoken to police) is asked to contact Crime Stoppers by calling on 1800 333 000, or by visiting the Crime Stoppers ACT website. Please quote 8176725. Information can be provided anonymously.
