Hundreds of cars ended up with flat tires after a truck traveling along one of the busiest highways in Australia has spread 750 kg (1,653 lb) of pointed metal shards on the road.
The truck traveled 30 km (18 miles) before the scrap spill was detected, the authorities said.
The incident forced the city -related tracks to close for hours on Friday, the debris damaging the tires of at least 300 cars.
Some emergency vehicles also had their shredded tires, said the rural fire service in South New Wales.
“A truck lost a scrap load around 5 am this morning, causing large debris,” said the firefighters.
Southern New Wales State police said the incident occurred on the M1 Pacific motorway near Ourimbah, north of Sydney. The motorway section reopened its doors on Friday afternoon after being closed for 10 hours.
NJ Ashton, the company that owns the truck, apologized and said it was helping cleaning.
Authorities use magnets to attract metal.
“It’s not just about taking out a road sweeper or guys and girls with brooms. We use magnetic devices. We delete the metal integrated into the highway itself. It takes a long time,” said commander of the state patrol Howard Collins at a press conference.
The M1 is a freight and suburban route which takes place north of Sydney.
The Minister of State Roads, Jenny Aitchison, said that the situation was “unprecedented”.
“We are working with all government and private sector resources to clean up,” she said.
“It’s like trying to get on the highway. It’s very difficult.”
The 46 -year -old truck driver, cooperated with investigations, said the police.
“We assume full responsibility for what happened and are very sorry for any damage and disturbance that has been caused,” said NJ Ashton in a statement on his website.
“We still don’t fully understand how it happened.”
Mr. Collins said the truck had traveled more than 30 km (18.64 miles) with debris from the back of the vehicle before detection of the spill.
