Two pedestrians narrowly escaped a life-threatening situation when 15-ton concrete slabs fell off a lorry onto a motorway. The incident, captured on video, showed the massive slabs detaching from the vehicle and crashing onto the road, narrowly missing bystanders and hitting multiple cars.
The alarming event occurred at approximately 10:30 am on Friday on the North-South Motorway in southern Australia as the lorry was changing lanes. According to authorities, the heavy load on the truck shifted, causing two 15-ton concrete segments to plummet onto the roadway.
The falling slabs struck three parked cars on the motorway’s hard shoulder, where two pedestrians were standing. Dust filled the air as the heavy concrete blocks landed on the pavement.
One pedestrian was rushed to the hospital with a suspected broken arm. Police expressed astonishment that there were no fatalities in the incident, stating that two other individuals sustained minor injuries.
Vicas Mataru, a father-of-two who was assisting a stranded colleague when the slabs fell, described the experience as miraculous. He recounted hearing a loud noise and seeing dust before warning his colleague to run, emphasizing how fortunate they were to survive the ordeal.
Mataru mentioned that a yellow car appeared to absorb much of the impact, diverting the concrete slabs away from where they stood. The lorry driver later apologized to Mataru, attributing the accident to another vehicle abruptly cutting in front of him.
The lorry was transporting concrete segments for the Torrens to Darlington (T2D) motorway construction project. In response to the incident, the Department for Infrastructure and Transport suspended the transportation of concrete segments as a precaution while investigations are ongoing.
Subsequently, the damaged vehicles were cleared from the scene, and a crane was deployed to lift and remove the large concrete slabs. Authorities continue to investigate the cause of the crash.
