A potentially dangerous crash early Monday morning left a tanker truck precariously perched over an embankment in Northbridge, Massachusetts.
According to officials, the crash happened on Linwood Avenue at about 5:30 a.m., when the truck first crashed into two parked cars.
"It struck two parked cars, drove the parked cars off the roadway, the truck then went down an embankment, crashed into a retaining wall, came to rest on top of one of the parked cars," said Northbridge Police Lt. Timothy Labrie.
Amazingly, only the driver of the Cape Cod Gas truck was transported to Milford Hospital with minor injuries.
"It could have been a lot worse," said Stephen Muse who lives nearby. "Frankly, if that truck hadn’t hit one of those cars and turned and went down the embankment, it could have driven right through the house that it was heading right toward."
Investigators say the tanker was carrying 10,000 gallons of gasoline, which spilled a couple hundred gallons before it could be contained.
Hazmat crews were called in while National Grid temporarily cut power to a few thousand customers.
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"They wanted to cut the power over the top of the tank while the hazmat team went in and grounded the truck and started the process of pumping out the fuel," Labrie said.
Police said the initial investigation shows distracted driving caused the crash.
"He was definitely impeded, he indicated that he dropped his coffee, got distracted and hence struck the two vehicles, causing the accident," Labrie said.
It's unclear if charges have been filed against the tanker driver, who has not yet been identified.
