Truck Carrying 60,000 Pounds of Bananas Tips Over in Livermore

A dump truck carrying 60,000 pounds of bananas from Mexico tipped over in Livermore on Monday morning, closing a portion of the highway near the Altamont Pass.

The truck tipped over around 1:50 a.m., according to California Highway Patrol Officer Joe Azevedo, closing a portion of westbound Interstate Highway 580 at Greenville Road. Aside from the squashed fruit, some oil from the truck also spilled onto the roadway.

All lanes were expected to open about 9:45 a.m., though the CHP had originally thought they may be open by 7 a.m. or 8 a.m.

Officers said the big-rig overturned when it tried to avoid hitting a disabled Ford 150 pickup on the side of the road. The dump truck smashed into the pickup, but Azevedo said that fortunately, the Ford's driver had gotten out beforehand.

No one was seriously injured, and the banana jokes started flying.

"There's nothing appealing about this accident," Thomas Wedo Stevenson wrote on NBC Bay Area's Facebook page.

NBC Bay Area photographer Steve Rose and Shelby Hansen contributed to this report.
 

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