Coin flip: 8m freshly minted dimes spilled on US freeway after truck crash | Texas

An avalanche of 8m freshly minted dimes spilled from an overturned truck and closed a Texas freeway for nearly 14 hours.

Witnesses described a sea of silver on US Route 287 in Alvord, 50 miles north of Fort Price. Clear-up crews tried to suck up the cash, value $800,000, utilizing vacuums extra generally used to unclog sewers and drains.

Officers mentioned the truck concerned within the accident was an 18-wheeler from the Colorado-based Western Distributing Transportation Company, whose operations function a fleet of armored automobiles that ferry foreign money and different invaluable cargo for shoppers together with the US authorities.

The origin of the money discharged in Tuesday morning’s rollover shouldn’t be identified. Each the US treasury division and Western Distributing didn’t return requires remark.

Public security officers in Sensible county mentioned the 2 occupants of the truck, believed to be the driving force and an armed guard from Western’s US Armored Firm Companies (USAC) subsidiary, have been taken to hospital with non-life threatening accidents. No different car was concerned.

Footage taken by CBS Information Texas confirmed uniformed USAC workers sifting via dust, gravel and crops along with the roadside to get well among the cash, whereas others have been collected with shovels and buckets.

The majority of the cash, in accordance with Alvord’s mayor, Caleb Caviness, was retrieved with heavy equipment.

“The funniest half to me was that they picked up the dimes utilizing the vacuum vans which are used to suck out sewage and water and stuff like that,” he advised the New York Instances.

“We have been joking round that the town of Alvord can be metallic detecting.”

The Sensible County Messenger reported that two southbound lanes of US 287 have been closed after the accident shortly after 5.30am, and remained inaccessible till the night, inflicting miles-long strains of site visitors.

Texas division of security troopers stored some curious spectators from the scene, though the Instances reported than an anticipated horde of speculators, fired up by rumors circulating in Alvord that the coin spillage was $8m as an alternative of $800,000, “by no means confirmed up”.

In accordance with Western Distribution’s web site, USAC has greater than 40 armored models geared up to safeguard cargo in transit.

“We transfer cargo for all divisions of the federal government and have been awarded [contracts] to maneuver a number of of the federal government’s banks over time,” wording on its web site states.

“If it have to be safe in transit, any quantity, wherever, USAC could make it occur! We might inform you extra about what we will do, but it surely’s confidential!”