Pigs close motorway after crash

Agence France-Presse 12/31/2009 9:36 AM

LONDON – A busy motorway was closed for hours on Wednesday after an accident involving a lorry carrying a herd of pigs, posing a risk to motorists, police said.

Some 12 pigs ran around on the carriageway of the M11 motorway north of London following the early-morning crash, involving a truck carrying a load of 82 animals.

The other pigs, each weighing some 20 stones (125 kilos), were trapped in the wreckage, said a spokesman, adding that some of the escaped animals subsequently began grazing on a motorway embankment.

"The southbound carriageway has been closed at Junction 8 and the road is likely to remain shut for around six hours while recovery work and repairs to the central reservation continues," said an Essex Police spokesman.

"The northbound carriageway has also been closed and could remain shut for about two hours because of fears that the pigs could cross from the southbound lane and be a danger to road users."

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