Exploding Beer Kegs Close Interstate

Driver Heard Noise, Saw Smoke, Pulled Over, Police Say

POSTED: 11:12 am EDT June 18, 2008
UPDATED: 12:10 pm EDT June 18, 2008

LAS VEGAS -- The Wednesday morning commute was delayed thanks to hundreds of exploding beer kegs.

During the early-morning hours, a truck driver was carrying 278 kegs of beer on Interstate 15 southbound near the Flamingo Road exit when he started to hear noises from the bed of the truck, said Bob McKenzie with the state's Department of Transportation.

When he looked in his rearview mirror, McKenzie said he started to see smoke. The driver pulled over to the side of the freeway and exited the vehicle, just before the kegs started to explode, reported Fox 5 News in Las Vegas.

Police closed the southbound onramps at Flamingo Road and Spring Mountain Road to clean up the spill.

The carbon dioxide in the kegs caused the explosions, police said.

No one was injured during the incident.

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