A truck driver fleeing from the scene of an accident along the México-Puebla highway collided with a row of cars at a stoplight last Thursday, creating chaos and panic at the edge of Mexico City. The truck’s pilot was reportedly drunk, and after being involved in a hit-and-run just moments before with a taxi, the driver doubled down and tried to force his way through traffic.
The truck hit another five cars after its first collision on the highway. When it plowed into traffic, the truck’s pilot was trying to evade not just police but the taxi driver whom had been hit earlier, per news reports.The taxi drivers hit at the stoplight responded in kind, by assaulting the pilot and co-pilot of the truck.
Despite the utter chaos from the multiple collisions and the assault, there were no fatal injuries. It was nonetheless a bad scene as the truck forced its way through traffic, its cab bucking and straining against cars and pinning down one taxi driver between the trailer and yet another car. You can see the utter chaos up close in this tweet from Mexican journalist, Joaquín López-Dóriga.
The incident was recorded from a higher angle and posted by El Universal. The truck driver claimed that his brakes failed, but witnesses refuted the claim and Twitter and YouTube users said that the truck didn’t just fail to stop. It actively plowed ahead, which has nothing to do with bad brakes.
Social media users were also quick to comment on the response from the taxi drivers, which ramped up the violence. The taxi drivers were armed with bats and other blunt instruments, pelting the truck with objects as they tried to force the truck driver and his copilot out of the cab.
After a brief and loud struggle, the taxi drivers opened the cab door — even as the semi was moving — and pulled the trucker out. The assault didn’t end there; the taxi drivers kept beating the pilot and copilot, only stopping after the Mexican Federal Police intervened. The two men from the truck were taken to a local hospital where they were treated for injuries. Not from the collisions, but mostly from the attack afterwards. Firefighters and paramedics tended to the drivers who were struck at the stoplight, according to TV Azteca.