Foam Snarls Tokyo Streets After Traffic Accident

VOA News
1 November 2012 (5:00PM)

A traffic accident in Tokyo resulted in thick mounds of fire-extinguishing foam spilling on to a major downtown street, snarling traffic for both motorists and pedestrians.

Firefighters shoveled, kicked and poured water on the waist-deep foam in an attempt to clear the area.

Tokyo police told The Associated Press news service a 58-year-old truck driver accidentally drove into a pipe connected to a fire sprinkler about midday Thursday. The broken pipe released heaps of foam across the parking lot and onto the street outside the store.

The man was driving in a parking area connected to a discount store in Tokyo's busy Katsushika ward.

Firefighters spent nearly two-and-a-half hours cleaning the site.