Just after 2am Wednesday a four-wheel-drive ute, containing four men travelling north, swerved to miss a cow which had been struck and killed by a truck.

The ute stopped in the centre median strip and the uninjured occupants got out to try to free the vehicle, which had become bogged.

Police were on their way to the scene when another station wagon, driven by a learner driver with a family from Melbourne, also swerved to miss a second cow on the road.

Wodonga Highway Patrol Acting Sergeant Owen Clarke said the driver lost control and the car spun towards where two of the men from the ute were standing.

“The car’s collided with them, seriously injuring one gentleman and unfortunately the other person died at the scene,” he said.

“I can’t tell you for sure what happened and how that took place.”

The deceased man, a passenger in the car, was from Diamond Creek and was with others from Wodonga and New Zealand.

It is understood the man who was seriously injured was released from hospital on Wednesday.

Acting Sergeant Clarke said the crash was “absolutely tragic”.

“There’s families that have been blown apart for years now over what took seconds to unfold,” he said.

“Understandably all of the occupants of the car that swerved to avoid the cow are horribly distraught, it’s not a nice thing to be involved in.

“It’s something that’s going to take some time for everybody to process.”

The driver of the truck which hit the first cow had taken time to stop the vehicle and walk back to check the road, but it was too late.

“Black cows on the freeway. they’re always going to be hard to see … something that can be innocuous in the daytime can be fraught with danger at night,” Acting Sergeant Clarke said.

“They can present themselves to drivers at very short notice.”

Police were looking into why the cattle were on the road, but Acting Sergeant Clarke said it could be one of a myriad of reasons including trees falling after flooding.

Victoria Farmers Federation’s Wangaratta branch president Greg Mirabella, who has stood aside while running for the council, said although fencing along the freeway was top quality, cattle occasionally escaped after damage from falling trees.

“I’ve got property bordering the Hume and it’s a farmer’s worst nightmare,” he said.

Northbound lanes were closed until the scene was cleared about 9am.