Eel truck overturns to leave cars and road covered in slime and fish | London Evening Standard

Eel truck overturns to leave cars and road covered in slime and fish

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A truck carrying almost 3,500kg of eels overturned in Oregon, turning a busy highway into a gooey slip road.

Cars were left coated in slime after the accident, with pictures from the scene showing the slippery creatures scattered along the street.

The local fire department posted a video online of workers hosing down the highway to clear the mess.

Police said Salvatore Tragale was driving 13 containers holding 3,402kg of hagfish, which are commonly known as slime eels.

Slimy: A truck overturned and eels spilled out into the street, coating cars and the road with a gooey mess.REUTERS

As Mr Tragale approached road construction and tried to stop, one container flew off the truck bed and into the southbound lane, while the other containers spilled on to the highway, officers said.

The flying container hit a vehicle which then caused it and four other cars to be pushed into each other.

Sticky: Slime eels, otherwise known as Pacific hagfish, covered the highway after a truck carrying them overturnedREUTERS

Police said the people in the vehicle hit by the container suffered minor injuries.

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Officers added that when hagfish become stressed, they secrete a slime, which can be seen in the photos on the vehicles and on the highway,

The road reopened after the bulldozing and hosing it off was completed on Thursday afternoon.