Truckie swept into flooded Pilbara river

A driver has escaped his three-trailer truck after it was swept into a fast-flowing river in Western Australia's drenched Pilbara region.

The truck was two-thirds of the way across a 150-metre river crossing on Saturday when floodwaters pushed the truck and trailers sideways off the edge of the road and into the Nullagine River, police say.

With the first two trailers submerged and the water up to the cabin doors, the 38-year-old driver needed to escape out a window and swim downstream towards the riverbank.

Police on Sunday said the driver was uninjured but his truck remains submerged in the river, 220km southeast of Port Hedland.

"Due to the danger posed by the floodwaters the truck will not be recovered until the water subsides," a police spokesman said in a statement.

The river crossing had been closed due to the danger posed by the continuous rain in the area but the truck driver attempted the passage nevertheless.