(La Porte County, IN) - A truck carrying bags of ice wound up in a deep ditch in the southern part of La Porte County yesterday afternoon, thanks to an oncoming driver passing in the opposite lane.

 

At about 4: 30 p.m., the refrigerated truck was eastbound on Indiana 8 when another driver swerved to avoid a head-on collision with the westbound vehicle in the opposite lane, passing multiple vehicles from behind.

 

At the bottom of the very deep ditch, the roof of the truck broke open, and out came some of the bags of ice.

 

La Porte County HazMat Coordinator Jeff Hamilton responded to the scene to address a fuel leak from the box truck.  He said the rest of the ice bags were unloaded and placed on the ground before the truck, fastened to cables, was pulled back up to the roadway.

 

“John’s Garage used two large semi wreckers to pull the truck up out of there,” he said.

 

Hamilton said about 15 gallons of fuel leaked from the truck.

 

The driver was not seriously injured.

 

Hamilton said the ice was allowed to melt before the water-filled bags were picked up later for disposal.

 

Police are still trying to identify the driver who caused the accident.