Truck spills 165,000 eggs on highway

Drivers on their way to breakfast in northern Virginia on Saturday found it all over the road after nearly 165,000 eggs spilled out of an overturned tractor-trailer on the Capital Beltway in Washington.

"It looked like a large omelet," said Michael Karbonski, of the Virginia Department of Transportation.

The tractor-trailer crashed into a guard rail just after midnight Saturday, spilling its runny load and forcing officials to close an exit ramp. The truck driver fled the scene before police arrived and had not been located by Saturday afternoon, said state police spokesman Sgt. Terry Licklider. He said the driver would likely face charges for fleeing and possibly other offenses.

It's a good thing it wasn't summer, officials said, because the mess could have been worse. But cold temperatures prevented workers from using any water to clean the road for fear of freezing the eggs and the roadway. Instead, the cleaning crew used kitty litter — 250 pounds of it — to absorb the highway omelet then swept it up and took it away in three trash bins, Morris said. Article here.