HGV driver runs from exploding custard!

It may sound like a plot of an episode of Doctor Who, or some children’s TV programme, but a HGV driver on the A328 in Devon was forced to flee his HGV as his load of custard started to explode. His deadly cargo, 60,000 tins of rice pudding and custard, exploded, starting a fire that consumed his rig.

An eye witness said the exploding custard was like fireworks going off inside his rig.

The HGV driver was transporting the Ambrosia custard and rice pudding to a supermarket, when a fire on his truck caused motorists to attempt to flag him down. When he stopped and departed his HGV, the custard exploded like a series of gunshots. By the time that the fire crews reached the blaze, there was nothing they could do to save either the cargo or the HGV.

Jill Pendleton, an eyewitness, caught the whole incident on camera:

‘The first we knew about it was a whiff of smoke and burning sugar and then suddenly it just erupted. It was incredible how quickly the fire caught hold – the whole thing was over in less than 20 minutes. When the heat reached the tins they started to explode and we could hear what sounded like thousands of gunshots. It was quite a fireworks display. There were two huge explosions which we think were either the airbags or the diesel tanks.The fire crews got here very quickly but there wasn’t much they could do as the contents had burned out. The driver seemed very shaken.’

Following the blaze, the road was closed for 6 hours while rescue crews cleared the debris.

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