The man died at the scene on the Barkly Highway about 12 kilometres east of Mount Isa. 

Police had been waiting to contact the man’s next-of-kin before confirming a fatality on the highway shortly after 5pm, Thursday. Mount Isa Police District’s acting superintendent Chris Hodgman confirmed the man’s family had been contacted. 

It was unclear at this stage what caused the crash.

“It’s too early to make any comment on that,” Acting Superintendent Hodgman said. 

Forensic Crash Unit trained officers were investigating the matter. 

“It is a coronial investigation. These can be quite lengthy investigations that can take months to make conclusions to the cause of the incident.” 

A fire was caused after another road train carrying cattle swerved to miss the initial incident.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services had the fire under control quickly, but it did flare up overnight,” he said. 

The acting Superintendent confirmed cattle died in the incident. Others suffering injury were put down by Mount Isa City Council officers. 

A truck driver was taken to the Mount Isa Hospital with minor injuries. The other truck driver was uninjured. 

The highway was closed overnight but was reopened on Friday morning.