Truck fall down and go BOOM.

A reader sent in some shots and an account of the rather spectacular accident on Moline's 6th Avenue right next to the riverside lagoon Thursday evening.

At the time, all 5 diamonds of the nearby Moline Little League complex had games in full swing (no pun intended) being watched by hundreds of children and parents.

Suddenly there was a loud, long wail of rubber against concrete, a small boom as the truck hit the curb, and a big boom and cloud of dust as it fell over onto it's side, coming to rest within feet of the riverside lagoon.

(I could find no reports on the accident or the condition of the driver in either online versions of the local papers. Though the driver was no doubt injured, it didn't appear to be critically. With luck, he'll be out of the hospital soon, if he's not already.)

A near miss. A few more feet and there would have been a geyser from the severed fire hydrant to add more drama to the scene.

The cab of the truck rolled on the driver's side, pinning the driver's legs. Rescue teams worked for about a half hour to extricate him.

The driver awaits extrication after a wild ride.

The accident could have been much worse. No cars or people were struck by or pinned under the truck, no one was injured aside from the driver, the fuel tanks didn't rupture, there was no fire, and no diesel fuel was released into the lagoon, the trailer didn't rupture and none of the load (reported to be dog food) spilled out into the lagoon.

(though I'm sure the fish would have loved it. Maybe next year there'd be 200lb catfish.)

The truck could have been carrying toxic gasses or gasoline or any number of hazardous cargo, in which case it would have been a very serious situation, being that there were several hundred children and adults within a short distance of the accident.

It's not known what caused the accident though some reported a car cutting off the truck causing it to swerve.

Afterwards, an enormous tow truck disingaged and tipped the semi tractor onto it's wheels and pulled it away from the trailer. Another Dorhn semi arrived with another trailer full of pallets and dropped it along side the tipped trailer.

The tow company then opened up the doors of the tipped trailer and began righting tipped over pallets and offloading the cargo using a skidloader with forks and placing it onto other trailer.

One specators wished the truck contained frozen steaks or lobster, something they'd have to pass them out free or they'd spoil, but no such luck.