A truckie thought to have burned to death in a fatal head-on crash in Victoria's southwest more than a day ago is under police guard in hospital in a stable condition.
It was feared the driver of the B-double truck had been incinerated in his charred cabin, which caught fire when the truck and a four-wheel drive collided on the Glenelg Highway near Hamilton on Tuesday morning, killing a man and critically injuring a teenager.
But in a bizarre twist, he was found on a nearby farm and taken to a local hospital.
Western District Health Service chief executive officer Rohan Fitzgerald says the man remains there.
"I can confirm that he has been admitted to the WDHS and that he is in a stable condition," Mr Fitzgerald told AAP.
Earlier, Victoria Police confirmed a local farmer found the man and took him to Hamilton Base Hospital on Wednesday afternoon.
"A 51-year-old Glen Waverley man was located this afternoon who is believed to be the driver of the B-double truck involved in that collision," Victoria Police spokesman Senior Constable Adam West told AAP.
"He was taken to Hamilton Hospital by the person who found him shortly after 4pm and he is there under police guard."
It's understood the man was found hiding in a farm shed suffering burns.
Mr Fitzgerald said he could not speak about the man's injuries.
The South Australian driver of the four-wheel drive involved was killed and his passenger, a 17-year-old boy, was trapped with critical head injuries.
The teen, also from SA, was flown to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where late Wednesday he was still in a critical condition.
The truck cabin burst into flames on impact and was fully alight when CFA crews arrived.
Police at the scene had feared the truck driver might have perished inside the cabin, which was destroyed by the fire.
"That is quite an intense fire. There's little left of the cabin and the truck," Inspector Mick Finnegan told reporters at the scene on Tuesday.
Forensics experts had been expected to sift through the wreckage in a bid to find the driver's remains.
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