The national holiday road toll has risen to 21 after a fatal explosion in Melbourne and a three-car smash in southern NSW.
Witnesses say the blast that killed a Footscray truck driver sounded like a "bomb" going off as it brought down power lines and scattered debris across a busy intersection.
The truck was carrying rubbish including LPG cylinders, which police believe triggered the lunch time Tuesday explosion that blew out windows across a quarter of a block.
The driver, a man in his early 20s, died at the scene.
One person was killed and several others injured with three vehicles involved in a crash on the Newell Highway near West Wyalong, in southern NSW, about 4pm on Tuesday.
The highway was closed in both directions with diversions in place for several hours.
The fatalities were Victoria's fifth and NSW's seventh for the national holiday road toll period, which began last Wednesday.
Six people were killed in smashes on Boxing Day, making it the worst day so far.
The Northern Territory is the only state or territory not to have recorded any road deaths.
* The national road toll period runs from 0001 December 23, 2015 to 2359 January 3, 2016 local times.
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