‘River of chocolate’ coats highway as truck crashes with 3,500 gallons, Arizona cops say

An Arizona highway looked a bit like an ice cream sundae on Monday after a tanker rolled over, spilling chocolate on the pavement and into the ditch nearby, photos show.

The truck had been carrying a 40,000-pound load of liquid chocolate, which was heated to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, Arizona’s Department of Public Safety wrote on Twitter Monday morning.

“There is a river of chocolate,” the department warned.

The chocolatey spill struck the westbound lanes of Interstate 40 east of Flagstaff, around milepost 211, authorities said. The truck crashed around 9 a.m., forcing the westbound lanes to close until 1 p.m. local time, ABC 15 reported.

“It was not immediately clear what caused the tanker to roll over,” the TV station reported.

Photos from the scene posted on Twitter by authorities show the exterior metal of the tanker splattered with chocolate, as well as glistening chocolate flowing from the roadway into a ditch filled with snow. Another photo appears to show liquid chocolate being hosed directly into the ditch by a man smiling for the camera.

The 40,000-pound load is equivalent to 3,500 gallons, authorities said.

“This will be a sweet cleanup!” the department wrote on Twitter.

The chocolate-lovers of Twitter selflessly offered to help with the chocolate.

This story was originally published January 14, 2019 at 6:05 PM with the headline "‘River of chocolate’ coats highway as truck crashes with 3,500 gallons, Arizona cops say."