Maybe it’s just me, but big North American tractor trailers always look pretty cool. They appear so alien compared with the cab over engine models we have back home and make it feel like I’m living in a movie whenever one cruises past. But all that industrial chic is tainted as soon as they roll onto their side.
And it was a rolled-over truck that closed one highway in Canada this weekend. But rather than the out-of-place sight of a truck’s wheels floating in mid air that caught our attention here, it was the truck’s cargo that became the main talking point.
That’s because this particular crashed tractor trailer was transporting a truck load of live fish across Canada. Meaning that the Canadian road was closed thanks to fish out of water.
According to highway police in Ontario, the truck rolled over on the southbound ramp of Highway 404 to eastbound Highway 401. It landed on its side and its back doors flung open, spilling its cargo onto the road.
Acting sergeant Tim Dunnah of the Ontario Provincial Police Highway Safety Division took to Twitter to share details of the crash. He said that the truck had been carrying live fish when it toppled, adding that “we have, unfortunately, some fish that are out of water.”
The fish were being transported by seafood distributor Maximum Seafood. That means that, sadly, this trip was always going to be their last journey on this earth.
As well as a few fishy victims of the crash, Ontario police reported that the truck’s driver had been taken to hospital following the incident. He was said to have sustained “minor injuries”.
The highway ramp was closed to traffic while emergency workers righted the truck and its trailer. They also set about collecting up the fishy casualties of the crash.
The road was temporarily closed but has since reopened following the cleanup effort. There’s no word on the smell.