7,000 Lost Chickens Stop Traffic On Autobahn

A lot of busy commuters on their way to Vienna had a very frustrating morning drive this week when the road was blocked by 7,000 chickens running back and forth across the autobahn.

According to The Local, on Tuesday morning a truck carrying thousands of chickens lost control and overturned on the A1 autobahn near Linz in northern Austria. That road is a very popular commuter route into Vienna, and a lot of people probably had to call in late to work that day, because the truck's doors flew open and scattered 7,000 chickens all across a 160-yard stretch of the motorway right in the middle of rush hour. The road being covered in chickens is an unusual excuse for being late to work, but it's a pretty good one.

Some of the chickens died or were injured in the accident, but plenty of others escaped out of their broken cages and went running back and forth across both sides of the road.

Austrian emergency services were called out, and police, road crews, and firemen chased the animals back and forth, trying to corral them and get them out of the way. The road going into Vienna had to be shut down during the cleanup, but the side going in the opposite direction experienced long traffic jams as well, because the drivers were slowing down to watch the chicken-chase on the other side.

Click here to read about 30,000 pounds of bananas and other food spills.