A gravel truck operator says he is shaken after a Winnipeg police officer's pickup truck veered into oncoming traffic and hit his truck.

"I swerved but it was too late, he was already there … He came straight on," said Robert Morgan, who was travelling westbound on Garven Road, south of Birds Hill Provincial Park, when Const. Trent Milan's vehicle hit the truck.

"There wasn't much I could do to stop it. I can't really blame myself because I didn't do anything. I tried to get out of the way the best I could."

Const. Milan was pronounced dead on the scene.

Morgan is suffering from significant physical pain and was unable to sleep Monday night. He suffered minor injuries in the crash earlier Monday morning that included bruised ribs, a sore elbow and scrapes on his legs and head from branches.

He had steered into the bush, trying to avoid Milan's truck.

Emergency crews at the two-vehicle crash on Garven Road around on Monday that killed Winnipeg Police Service Const. Trent Milan. (Jaison Empson/CBC)

When the vehicles collided, Morgan said Milan's truck hit the front of his cab and then flipped.

"He hit my fuel tank, the fuel started on fire right away," he said.

Morgan had just filled up his tank with fuel and was carrying 500 litres of fuel.

"I jumped right away out of the truck because I was worried."

Within minutes of Morgan escaping the cab, both vehicles were engulfed in flames. A fellow truck driver stopped at the scene with a couple of fire extinguishers.

"We tried to put out his vehicle because his vehicle was burning too … but it was too late already for him to get out," said Morgan.

Truck driver doing 'ok'

While wiping away tears, Morgan said he is doing OK. He plans to take the next week or two off work. He's spending the extra time with his wife and two sons, and is relieved one of his boys wasn't in the truck with him. He almost brought him to work on Monday.

"It's good. Glad to get home yesterday that's for sure," he said. "They know what's going on a little bit, but they're young."



He said he feels lucky to be alive, and his thoughts are with the family of the man who isn't.



"I don't think I'm very traumatized other than seeing the truck coming at me ... I didn't see him at all. He was just there. All I basically remember is the impact and me going through bush."

Police Const. Milan was a 18-year veteran of the force and used to work with the street crimes unit.

On Sept. 16, police announced he was arrested and faced 34 charges including breach of trust, drug trafficking and multiple weapons offences.

Morgan said he had never heard of Milan before and only learned about his past through a news report Monday night.

"He's still human. He has a family that will miss him."