Enlarge image
Among other things, the California Highway Patrol published this photo from the scene of the accident
Photo: AP
Four people were injured in several car accidents in the US state of California.
They had to be treated in the hospital, according to US media reports.
One person suffered serious injuries.
The accidents occurred Monday morning on Highway 80 near the town of Vacaville in Solano County.
There, a truck driver initially collided with another vehicle, as the New York Times reported.
The truck then struck another vehicle and then crashed into the dividing wall between the lanes.
He lost his load: More than 150,000 fist-sized tomatoes ended up on the street, as Jason Tyhurst of the California Highway Patrol told the newspaper.
The tomatoes were therefore distributed over about 60 meters on the busy road.
Some of them were stacked more than 50 centimeters high, said Tyhurst – and emphasized that he was by no means exaggerating.
Several vehicles then drove into the tomatoes and had an accident.
Three people were slightly injured, it said;
including the driver of the tomato truck.
A fourth person broke his leg, Tyhurst said, according to the newspaper.
»Like walking on ice«
The tomatoes -- combined with oil and dirt from the road -- created dangerous conditions on the road, Tyhurst said.
"Those tomato skins... As soon as they hit the asphalt, it's like walking on ice."
The California Highway Patrol closed nearly every lane on both sides of the highway.
There were persistent delays for rush hour commuters - the crashes happened around 5am.
Clean-up teams from the California Department of Transportation were deployed to get rid of the tomatoes.
The highway was only fully reopened around 3 p.m. in the afternoon.
aar
