Overturned Coca-Cola Truck Spills Cans All Over I-10 Freeway; Lanes Reopen After 9 Hour Closure
POMONA (CBSLA) — Thousands of Coca-Cola product cans spilled across the I-10 Freeway Saturday morning when a semi truck delivering products to local distributors was involved in a multi-vehicle collision.
The big rig overturned, spilling the majority of its contents all over the roadway.
As a result, a Sigalert was issued just at 6:10 a.m., closing the four right lanes of the I-10 Freeway in Pomona, with just the HOV and left lane open.
A report from California Highway Patrol disclosed that the crash was a possible three-vehicle collision. The incident began when a woman hit the truck as they drove along the Eastbound I-10 Freeway, the big rig driver attempted to correct the truck after it was knocked off course, but it tipped on its side.
The driver of the semi truck was trapped in the cab for more than an hour following the crash, as he was wedged under the steering wheel. Firefighters on hand were finally able to rescue him when he was transported to a medical facility with injuries considered to be minor.
He had just left from the bottling plant in Downey and was headed to a distribution center in Rancho Cucamonga.
CBS reporters on the scene noted that the surface of the freeway was still wet hours later, due to the explosion of hundreds of soft drink cans upon impact.
Crews continued to clean the debris from the crash for several hours.
At 1:50 p.m., all of the freeway's lanes were reopened.
