FRIDAY, 10AM:
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THE Escort Way was re-opened at 11.30pm on Thursday night after the accident late on Thursday morning.
Police are investigating after a truck and car collided about 10 kilometres west of Orange.
Just before 12pm emergency services were called to the scene The Escort Way following reports a prime mover and a Toyota had collided.
A 72-year-old man, who was a passenger in the Toyota, was treated at the scene by NSW Ambulance paramedics before being taken to Orange Health Service in a critical condition.
He was later transferred to Westmead hospital for further treatment.
The driver of the Toyota, a 41-year-old man, was also treated at the scene for minor injuries and shock before being taken to Orange Health Service as a precaution.
A 24-year-old man, the driver of the prime mover, was not injured.
He was taken to Orange Health Service to undergo mandatory blood and urine testing.
Officers attached to Canobolas Local Area Command with assistance from Crash Investigation Unit established a crime scene and commenced and investigation.
Inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the incident are continuing and police are urging anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.
THURSDAY, 5.30PM:
A 72-year-old man was taken to Orange hospital to undergo surgery for head and internal injuries following an accident on The Escort Way on Thursday morning.
At 11.50am an unladen semi-trailer travelling west and a Toyota LandCruiser, towing a trailer, which was travelling east, collided near an overtaking lane.
The vehicles collided eight to 10 kilometres outside of Orange, near the Old Forbes Road intersection with The Escort Way.
Following the collision the LandCruiser collided with a third car causing minor damage.
Canobolas Local Area Command duty officer Inspector Dave Harvey said the truck was driven by a 25-year-old man and the LandCruiser was driven by a 41-year-old man from Forest Reefs.
A NSW Ambulance spokesman said paramedics assessed two patients including the 72-year-old man who was a passenger in the LandCruiser.
He said the elderly man had been trapped and unconscious for a period of time before paramedics took him to Orange hospital with serious head and internal injuries.
Inspector Harvey said the road had been closed by police since the accident, and a crash investigation unit was at the scene to determine the cause of the accident.
He said the road would re-open when the crash investigation was complete.