Driver rescued from truck 21m above river

FIREFIGHTERS rescued a truck driver whose tractor-trailer was nearly blown off a bridge in Virginia in the US, leaving his cab dangling 21m over a river.

A large wind gust caused the driver, Wayne B Boone, to lose control on Monday morning, said Virginia State Police Sergeant Michelle Anaya.

Boone had to be pulled from his cab, which was dangling off the side of Interstate 64’s High Rise bridge over the Elizabeth River, the Chesapeake Fire Department said in a Twitter post.

It said firefighters used a series of complex rope manoeuvres to reach the driver and pull him to safety as severe thunderstorms rolled through the area.

A fire department news release said Boone was taken to a hospital and treated for non-life threatening injuries.

| AP A CHESAPEAKE firefighter tries to rescue the driver of a tractor-trailer on the High Rise Bridge over the Elizabeth River in Virginia in the US. Firefighters made the daring rescue of the driver whose vehicle was nearly blown off the bridge. The truck jack-knifed on Interstate 64 and crashed into the side of the bridge, leaving the driver stuck in his cab, dangling 21m above the water.