A very curious incident took place earlier this week in Seattle, Washington, when a truck carrying 44,000 lbs (22 tons) worth of steel balls inadvertently released hundreds of them onto SW Genesee Street, near 30th Avenue SW.
According to Kiro7 News, as many as six vehicles were damaged by the industrial grinding balls, each of which weighing 2 lbs (1 kg). Thankfully, nobody was actually injured.
The truck driver told authorities that he was heading back to the facility where the metal balls were loaded, when he took a wrong turn and was re-routed via GPS up this steep section of SW Genesee Street.
“Came to a halt and spinning its tires,” said Mat Sexton, a witness who was out walking his dog when the incident took place. “And then it decided to reverse out, gained a lot of speed and when he hit the brakes the back end busted open.”
“Thought they wouldn’t cause that much damage but then saw all the cars stop, starting to reverse,” added the man.
Other witnesses told the media that they heard the crash from inside their homes.
“At first I thought it was just avocados, at first, but then I looked and I thought it was so loud,” said one Joud Inaimi. “I was worried about, like, all the people on the street.”
Seattle PD said that the truck driver was cited for failing to secure his load, while the city had to spend hours rounding up all the metal balls.