A 57-year-old truck driver was detained Thursday after a great deal of potatoes had been discovered spilled on a key bridge linking two Danish islands, police have mentioned. The driver was held on suspicion of inflicting reckless endangerment to life.
A primary spill was reported on the westbound aspect of the Storebaelt bridge at 6.35 a.m., police spokesman Kenneth Taanquist mentioned. The bridge connects the island the place the capital, Copenhagen, is situated to the remainder of Denmark.
An analogous incident occurred on the eastbound aspect a short while later, Tanquist added.
”It appears to be like bizarre,” he mentioned. “We are working on two hypotheses: it is either an accident or it is something that has been done deliberately.”
Police mentioned the roads had grow to be slippery and urged drivers to drive slowly. According to the Danish Road Directorate, strains of automobiles had been reported on both aspect of the roughly 11 mile bridge and tunnel hyperlink between the islands of Funen, the place Odense — Denmark’s third largest metropolis — is situated, and Zealand, the place Copenhagen sits.
A 3rd incident of potatoes on the highway was reported close to the city of Kolding on the Jutland peninsula. Kolding is close to the Storebaelt bridge.
Danish public broadcaster DR famous that the potato spills occurred on the identical day because the Danish parliament handed a legislation to tax diesel vans transporting heavy hundreds.
The new measure has drawn protests from truck drivers. In current weeks, they peacefully blocked highways and predominant roads all through the nation, claiming the tax will make their livelihoods unsustainable. A majority within the Danish parliament argue it’s important because the continued use of fuel and diesel-fueled vans is environmentally unsustainable.
As of 2025, the drivers of fuel and diesel-fueled automobiles over 3.5 tons can be taxed $0.19 per kilometer pushed.
Torben Dyhl Hjorth, a spokesman for the protesting truckers, mentioned on Facebook that they “strongly distance themselves from today’s ‘stunts’.” He added that they plan protest at a later stage which ”will be felt however with out danger to individuals’s lives and well-being.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”