Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

TRUCK

23-tonne granite block falls onto motorway in Hesse

There was an emergency situation on the Autobahn 45 at Dillenburg, Hesse yesterday evening when a 23-tonne granite block fell from a low-bed truck onto the road.

Published: 1 November 2018 10:28 CET
23-tonne granite block falls onto motorway in Hesse
The large granite block which caused chaos on the motorway on Wednesday evening. Photo: DPA

The block must not have been sufficiently secured as it slipped off the back of the truck and travelled for 70 metres before it came to a stop, according to a police spokesman on Thursday. The 22-year old driver of the truck suffered from shock.

The driver was on the motorway on Wednesday evening when a car and a lorry wanted to pull onto the road just in front of her at the Dillenburg exit.

According to the police spokesman, she couldn’t prevent emergency braking when the car and the lorry pulled in front in front of her, and her low-bed truck jackknifed because of the sharp braking.

The drivers of the car and the lorry simply drove away.

The motorway had to be closed for several hours to clean up after the incident. The granite block had torn through a crash barrier among other things, said the police spokesman.

The police will now investigate both the drivers who escaped the scene, and the low-bed driver who possibly failed to sufficiently secure the granite block onto her vehicle.

Member comments

  1. I’m not sure how they propose to secure a granite slab that weighs about five times as much as the truck and flatbed.

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

TRUCK

Sticky situation on Danish island after sugar truck topples

A transport carrying a sweet load caused traffic problems on Danish island Møn after falling onto its side.

Published: 9 December 2019 11:11 CET
Sticky situation on Danish island after sugar truck topples
Photo: Depositphotos

The truck swerved sharply to avoid an animal and subsequently overturned, spilling its sugary cargo across the road.

Monday morning commuters in and out of Stege, the rural island’s largest town, were forced to find alternative routes.

It is not known whether the truck was carrying Christmas treats.

But the spillage block the entire roadway between between Stege and Queen Alexandrine Bridge, which connects Møn to Zealand.

The clean-up was expected to be completed during the morning, South Zealand and Lolland-Falster Police tweeted.

Police were alerted to the accident at 1:31am on Monday.

“The driver told me he was trying to avoid an animal. Probably a deer or something else wild. The truck then skidded, causing the trailer to overturn. The truck itself did not overturn, but ended up on the verge of the road,” police duty officer Ole Hald said.

The driver was unhurt in the incident.

“But he is naturally a bit shaken up,” Hald said

The overturned trailer was packed with sugar, complicating the clean-up.

“We need special vehicles down there to suck the sugar out of the tanker and take it away. After that, we can begin to pull the trailer upright,” Hald said.

“It is both time and resource-consuming, so we don’t expect to be ale to open the road until (later) this morning,” he added.

Stege is the largest town on Møn and has a population of around 4,000.

READ ALSO: Ten of Denmark's most 'Instagram-able' places

SHOW COMMENTS