Florida highway blocked after truck carrying thousands of beer cans crashes

A highway in the US state of Florida was blocked by thousands of cans of beer on Wednesday, following a crash involving five semi-trailer trucks, reported the Tampa Bay Times.

The multi-vehicle crash occurred shortly after 6 AM (local time) in the southbound lanes of Interstate 75 about 48 kilometers north of Tampa, the Florida Highway Patrol said in a news release.

The Highway Patrolmen took pictures of the scene, which showed a veritable deluge of beer cans and cartons -- so much so that the road itself was completely covered, and could barely be seen.

The pileup began when one semitrailer clipped another while changing lanes, officials said. That forced other semis to brake, but one failed to stop and collided with a pickup truck and another one of the stopping semis.

The semi that failed to stop was filled with cases of the Silver Bullet beer. Aside from the beer, concrete being carried by one of the trucks also cluttered up and blocked the road.

Minor injuries were reported by the occupants of the pickup truck, the news release said.

The inside shoulder and travel lanes were opened to traffic by 8:30 AM, about two-and-a-half hours after the accident, and the rest of the roadway was reopened around noon, troopers said.