Crashed Truck Leaves Ducks In A Flap On Chinese Freeway

CEN - Quick-thinking ducks made a bid for freedom amid the crash chaos

Chinese traffic police were driven quackers when a truckful of ducks overturned on a busy freeway.

Traffic on the road over Qingdao City in east China’s Shandong Province was forced to a standstill as dozens of ducks enjoyed an unexpected taste of freedom when their cages crashed open.

The accident happened when the driver - the farmer who owned the ducks - lost control of his truck in heavy rain, slipping off the road and into the barrier where the vehicle flipped onto its side.

CEN - Many of the farm ducks saw an opportunity to spread their wings

Police spokesman Chen Chou said: “While many of the duck cages remained unbroken, some also broke releasing the animals onto the road. Fortunately their instinct was to stay together which made it not too difficult to round them up, and they all had clipped wings so they didn’t fly off.”

A few of the quicker-thinking ducks saw an ideal opportunity to escape, however. “We think we did lose some in a nearby wood and there were also obviously others that were injured or killed in the accident,” said Chen Chou.

CEN - The rescue mission was almost complete

Rescue teams made quick work of the clean up, helping the driver out of the truck before retrieving most of the ducks that had gone walkabout.

After enjoying the short spectacle, frustrated drivers only had to wait about 45-minutes before they were able to hit the road again.