Truck carrying ‘slime eels’ flips and causes pileup on Oregon highway

'What to tell the dry cleaner?'

A lorry carrying thousands of pounds of "slime eels" overturned on US motorway, spilling them on nearby vehicles and causing a four car pile up.

Oregon State Police said Salvatore Tragale was unable to stop his vehicle in time as he approached some roadworks on the Highway 101, around 300 miles south of Seattle.

As a result, 13 crates carrying the creatures - which were technically not eels but hagfish - hitting a vehicle and causing four others to shunt into it.

Only one person suffered minor injuries.

But the hagfish which have a skull but no jaw or spine and they secrete slime when distressed, earning them the nickname "slime eels."

True to form, after the accident, the creatures covered the road and the cars in slime.

Oregon state police had tweeted an image of the eel, alongside the caption: "What to tell the #drycleaner?"

The Depoe Bay Fire Department then used a bulldozer to clear the eels from Highway 101.

The creatures had been heading to Korea where they are a delicacy.

With additional reporting from AP.