Central Whangarei streets were blocked yesterday by a truck's trailer unit that rolled mid-morning.
Steve Cluard, who witnessed the accident from a nearby building, said the truck-and-trailer unit got into difficulties while turning into a sharp corner on the Commerce St/Okara Drive intersection.
He said the driver of the Inter-Freightvehicle tried reversing to rectify the situation but the partially-open loading ramp on the truck jammed into the trailer.
The trailer was then tipped over on to about a 60-degree angle, blocking off traffic in and out of the city.
A co-worker on the truck, who did not want to be named, said the ramp control may have malfunctioned and the ramp partly opened without them knowing.
The Inter-Freight truck from East Tamaki in Auckland, was on its way to Paihia delivering house appliance equipment, he said.
The company's main office in Auckland declined to talk about the accident other than to say it was sending a mechanic to assess the situation.
A heavy tow truck at the scene struggled to get the trailer unit upright as the landing ramp was tightly jammed. A three-tonne fork-hoist from Cowley's Hire Centre couldn't push the landing ramp into place either.
Hydraulic oil leaked on to the road under the ramp but whether it was a contributing factor won't be known until the company's mechanic has completed a full investigation. Police are looking into the accident.
