Tanker spills tons of liquid chocolate on a Polish highway; traffic stranded for hours

WARSAW: A tanker carrying liquid chocolate overturned and spilled its contents onto the four lanes of the highway connecting the city of Poznan to Warsaw, stranding the traffic for hours.

The dried chocolate led to long lines of traffic on either side of the spill on Wednesday (May 9, 2018) and it was hours before the road was usable again. Some media reports said that the tanker, which was supposedly carrying 12 tons of chocolate, overturned after colliding with a traffic barrier in Graboszewo.

#A2 zablokowana między Wrześnią, a Słupcą. Przejazd blokuje... czekolada. foto: Sławomir Brandt. pic.twitter.com/fEH1MXUgf3 — MotoSygnały (@MotoRadioPoznan) May 9, 2018

The driver, 60, suffered a broken arm and was hospitalised, according to Associated Press.

Marlena Kukawka, a media officer for the police in the small town of Slupca, near where the spillage occurred, told The New York Times that the firefighters used streams of hot water to melt the chocolate and wash away the mess. It is said that spilled chocolate is more difficult to remove than oil.

Inspektorzy WITD #Poznań pomagają ustalić przyczyny wypadku ciężarówki przewożącej płynną czekoladę, która przewróciła się dziś na autostradzie #A2 pomiędzy węzłami Września i Słupca. Autostrada #A2 zablokowana w obydwu kierunkach. Objazd DK92 @PolskaPolicja @GDDKiA pic.twitter.com/mdqldJMi97 — ITD (@ITD_gov) May 9, 2018

Na #A2 Poznań-Warszawa przewróciła się cysterna z czekoladą. Trwa sprzątanie jezdni href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/czekolada?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#czekolada pic.twitter.com/EnSNT8ri1q — MotoSygnały (@MotoRadioPoznan) May 9, 2018

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen so many smiles on the faces of emergency rescue folks and police officers at the scene of an accident,” Kukawka was further quoted as saying.

The truck reportedly belonged to a company from the south of Poland.