More than 20 tons of squid spilled onto a Rhode Island highway during a traffic accident on Sunday, causing hours of delays for motorists and a foul stench as crews worked in hot sunshine to scrape up the remains of the fast-decaying cephalopods.
The incident occurred Sunday morning in Narragansett when the driver of a tractor-trailer transporting the squid failed to make a turn, and the vehicle fell onto its side, the town's police department said in a statement reported by ABC News.
Details of the Incident
“At the time of the incident, the fully loaded trailer was transporting squid to a processing facility out of town,” the statement said. “A substantial portion of the squid fell onto the roadway.”
There were “significant traffic disruptions and an extended road closure” from about 9:30 a.m. until 5:15 p.m., according to police.
Cleanup and Impact
Afternoon temperatures in Rhode Island on Sunday rose above 80°F (27°C) as fire department personnel joined crews toiling in the heat to scrape the remains from the road surface using mechanical loaders.
One resident, Richard Stevens, told NBC News affiliate WJAR that the stench quickly pervaded the local area. “Squid has a distinctive odor to it,” he said. “I’m a fisherman and I use squid for bait. I’m quite used to it, but it can be very foul-smelling especially if it lies on the road and stays there for a while.”
Aftermath and Context
The driver and a passenger in the truck were not injured. ABC reported that the driver was cited by Rhode Island state police for failure to secure a load.
Rhode Island is a regional hub of the commercial squid farming industry, with Narragansett as its “pulse”, according to WJAR in a 2023 article about a lawsuit opposing a windfarm project. Millions of pounds of longfin and shortfin squid pass annually through Rhode Island ports for distribution nationwide, and calamari is the official state appetizer.
