Jacknifed truck blocks Hummingbird Highway

Traffic on the Hummingbird Highway came to a standstill early this morning after an eighteen wheeler jack-knifed across the road. According to Guatemalan driver Carlos Lima, around six-thirty a.m. he was heading towards Dangriga with forty tonnes of cement on his flatbed, but as he attempted to ascend the hill between miles twenty-eight and twenty-nine, he lost power. The truck slid backwards and wedged itself between both embankments, completely blocking the highway. Within an hour, dozens of motorists and hundreds of passengers were stuck at the scene, unable to continue their travel. While most waited for help to arrive, desperate bus drivers decided to turn their vehicles around and swap customers with buses on the other side. That assistance would come about an hour and a half after the incident. With support from a grader and Chief Mechanic Joseph Swift from Cisco Construction, heavy equipment experts and officials from the Transport Department were able to supervise a solution to the problem. The truck was pushed to the top of the hill where repairs could be safely executed. While we know a number of people arrived to work late today, no one was hurt in the incident.