A tractor trailer fell off of an overpass in St. Louis on Thursday morning after losing control on a wet highway.
It happened on July 27th at approximately 7 a.m. on Highway 44 in St. Louis, Missouri.
According to the St. Louis Post Dispatch, 62-year-old Vernon McKellips says he was driving the empty tanker truck near Washington Avenue when he began to fishtail. He says he overcorrected, which caused him to crash through the right barrier wall and skid off the side of the bridge, crashing into the road below.
A witness claims to have seen McKellips swerve to avoid a car, but those claims have not been confirmed.
Here’s a look at the scene as crews work on this tanker that danger from an interstate overpass in downtown #STL. @kmoxnews pic.twitter.com/blfa1RQAgA
— Michael Calhoun (@michaelcalhoun) July 27, 2017
The driver a nearby car was injured in the accident, but their condition is not known.
The 50-foot tanker hung off of the side of the bridge, cab on the ground, and the driver was able to exit the truck safely with only a cut near his eye.
“This is going to hurt when I land,” McKellips recalled thinking before going over the barrier wall.
It took crews with a crane over an hour to safely remove the truck from the side of the bridge.
McKellips works for N.B. West construction and was on his way to collect a load of asphalt.