Truck carrying chickens overturns, spilling 5000 birds onto the road
Thousands of chickens have been left scattered around the wreckage of a semi-trailer after it flipped when its driver attempted to make a U-turn.
The crash happened at about 3.15pm on Monday near Battle Ground, in the US state of Washington, and saw some of the 5000 birds on board the truck spill across the street and nearby grass.
Footage of the accident’s aftermath was shared on Twitter by Washington State Patrol Trooper Will Finn, and shows many of the birds sticking fairly close to wreckage.
The cages transporting the chickens can also be seen strewn around the crash site.
According to The Columbian, the birds had been collected from a local farm and were to be delivered to a poultry company’s processing plant.
It was only the second time the driver had attempted this route, and he had reportedly conducted a U-turn successfully at the same spot on his initial run.
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State Patrol Trooper Finn told the publication that this particular intersection where the accident occurred is not designed for U-turns to be made by commercial vehicles and there is an intersection nearby which is specifically intended for larger trucks to carry out the manoeuvre.
Workers from the processing plant arrived at the site and helped to sort the live birds from those which did not survive the impact.
It is not known how many died in the crash.
Just learned there are 5000+ chickens on board. No estimate on how many died in the collision. https://t.co/DIxM6lkOQV
— Trooper Will Finn (@wspd5pio) June 25, 2018
Animal activists turned up at the scene to protest as word of the crash spread online.
One was reportedly arrested after allegedly picking up one of the birds and refusing to give it back.
The accident caused traffic delays, blocking westbound lanes for a time, however the driver was not injured in the accident.
It is reported that the driver received a ticket for conducting an improper U-turn in a commercial vehicle.
