A truck spilling slime eels caused five cars to crash into each other Thursday on U.S. 101 in Oregon. Slime eels are a nickname for hagfish, which excrete slime when they are stressed. The slime from one hagfish can expand to five gallons when combined with water. The truck spill not only caused a chain reaction crash, but left a disgusting mess on the vehicles and the highway.
The fish were loaded in the back of a truck driven by Salvatore Tragale for transport to Korea, where they are a delicacy. Tragale was driving northbound on 101 when he came upon road construction that had stopped traffic, police say.
But Tragale couldn't stop his truck in time, and containers of hagfish flew. They sailed into the southbound lane, starting a chain reaction of collision.
Thanks @OregonDOT pic.twitter.com/SmwHtWLeQ3
— Depoe Bay Fire Dist. (@DepoeBayFire) July 13, 2017
The highway was closed for hours while the mess was cleaned up. Can you imagine the smell? Learn more disgusting facts about hagfish in the report from Oregon Live. -via Jezebel
(Image credit: DePoe Bay Fire Department)