Soap spillage blocks motorway

TRAFFIC was disrupted on the A4 autoroute north-east of Paris after an HGV carrying liquid soap crashed, tipping its contents out.

The accident, in which a car was also reportedly involved, happened yesterday morning, in the Paris-Strasbourg direction, between Sainte-Aulde in Seine-et-Marne and Orxois in the Aisne.

The 40-tonne lorry veered into the verge and turned over, injuring the driver and dumping part of its cargo of liquid soap tubs which broke open on the road. The driver was trapped and had to be rescued by firefighters.

A diversion was put in place at Montreuil-aux-Lions, Aisne, to join the RD 1003 and the motorway was closed in the Strasbourg direction after the accident.

It was reopened later in the day, but with only one lane in each direction.