SAN ANTONIO – A truckload of spilled onions may have led to tears for morning drivers traveling along a stretch of Interstate 35 through San Antonio’s Northeast Side.
The spill, which resulted from a crash after 2 a.m. Friday, led to a highway closure that lasted for about five hours.
RELATED: Highway reopens after 18-wheeler carrying onions crashes on I-35
San Antonio police say the driver of an 18-wheeler was traveling north on I-35 at a high rate of speed when he rear-ended a dump truck near the O’Connor Road exit.
The big rig spilled thousands of pounds of raw onions all over the northbound lanes.
Police had to bring in a cleanup crew to pick up the onions from the road and offload whatever was left inside the truck.
They also had to have a towing crew separate the two portions of the tractor-trailer in order to haul them away.
During the closure, traffic backed up for miles, both on the access road and the main lanes of the highway.
Shortly before 8 a.m., officers were able to reopen some of the lanes.
However, the wreckage and debris continued to block the outermost lane for several more hours.
Because of that, a traffic backup continued, stretching all the way south to Rittiman Road.
Police say no one was seriously hurt in the crash, although the driver of the dump truck was taken to a hospital by ambulance to get checked out by a doctor.