A 37-year-old man died today after his truck and trailer unit smashed into the Bulls RSA, causing major damage to the building on State Highway 1.
The crash happened about 3.30am and there were no other vehicles involved. The man, from Dannevirke, died at the scene.
Police senior constable Chris Craig said it appeared the southbound vehicle failed to take a slight bend before crashing into the building.
Emergency services staff using a tow truck delicately tried to remove the crashed vehicle from the building without causing more damage.
Bulls chief fire officer Brian Carter said the callout was a difficult one.
"It was a bit of a mission to get him out because of there because of the way the truck had moulded into the building."
Carter said the truck was carrying pressurised cylinders, which was of concern initially.
"If those valves had snapped off then we would have had all hell to pay.
"We just made sure they [the cylinders] were secure. There were a couple that had fallen over so we just removed them from the vehicle."
Carter said removing the truck was also tricky because there was a risk that "the building would follow it".
Detours around the section of State Highway 1 were put in place for several hours.