Must see: Tractor-trailer carrying mail plunges into icy river
WESTON, Mass. – A tractor-trailer carrying mail crashed into the Charles River in Massachusetts and it was caught on camera.
The State Police Association of Massachusetts released the video from Saturday afternoon.
Firefighters said the truck’s driver was able to get out of the rig but waited to be rescued by standing on the front of the trailer because he was not able to swim.
The driver told firefighters he was cold.
“By the time that the state police called us and we got to the call and responded to the call say seven, eight, nine-minute mark, so he had already been wet in what was probably the low-30-degree water,” Weston Deputy Fire Chief Justin Woodside told WFXT.
Firefighters rescued him from his perch and brought him to shore. He was later taken to an area hospital to be evaluated.
As for the packages that were inside the truck, many of them were able to be recovered.
The Department of Environmental Protection and a mail inspector were notified of the crash.
“The disposition of any mail on board will be determined by Postal Inspectors once their investigation is completed,” the U.S. Postal Service told WFXT in a statement.
Emergency responders said they were waiting for something like this to happen.
“Since they have taken out the toll booths there at what used to be Interchange 14 at the Mass Pike, we’ve seen an increase in tractor-trailer rollovers on both of those ramps,” Woodside told WFXT. “Usually we see them roll over and they end up on the bridge and we said one of these days somebody’s going to be going either fast or something’s going to happen and they’re going to end up in the river.”
