Runaway pigs block north China highway for hours

Traffic on an expressway in north China was brought to a stop earlier this week after a truck carrying pigs overturned.

Local highway authorities received a report saying that dozens of pigs were running loose on the Ankang-Baomao Expressway in Shaanxi Province.

When officers of the Ankang detachment arrived, they found some of the livestock were running loose on the east side of the road, while a few others remained stuck in the vehicle.

A man who was trying to herd the livestock back onto the truck told the officers that the driver had dozed off when the vehicle overturned.

Officer Tang Dong had to stop the traffic while his co-workers rounded up the escaped hogs.

“The road is slippery and there is fog, and our preliminary findings indicate that the accident was caused by improper driving and the bad weather,” Officer Tang said.

The pigs, numbering 96 in total, blocked the road for more than four hours and were all trucked away by noontime.

The driver of the truck said he was suffering a bad headache and was rushed to hospital.