Traffic chaos after a lorry hit an bridge on the M20, one of Britain's busiest motorways

ap traffic chaos as truck hits collapses bridge on uk highway m20

Steve Parsons/PA via AP

LONDON (AP) — Witnesses and British emergency services say a truck has struck an overpass and collapsed a pedestrian bridge onto one of England's busiest highways, injuring one person.

Witnesses say a truck hauling construction vehicles appeared to clip the bridge Saturday on the London-bound M20 highway 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of the British capital.

Ambulance officials say the injured man was a motorcyclist who came off his bike as the bridge started to collapse in front of him — but thankfully, his injuries were not life-threatening.

The M20, one of two motorways that link London with the cross-Channel port of Dover and the nearby Eurotunnel terminal, has been closed in both directions. The shutdown caused massive traffic jams on what was already an exceptionally busy three-day weekend for vacationers heading to and from France.

Sky News has aerial footage of the incident:

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/769522247203631106
M20 bridge collapse: Aerial footage from the scene shows top of lorry trailer sheared off https://t.co/vZ3vIsUpjK

And here are two further photos of the damage. The top of the lorry has been entirely shorn off.

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/769510495393120256
M20 update: One person was injured when a bridge was hit by a lorry and collapsed onto the M20 near West Malling. pic.twitter.com/pt8FFtRkLQ

 

 

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