Tanker truck gets cut off, spills oil

GROTON, Conn. (WTNH) - Police are searching for a vehicle that allegedly cut off an oil tanker causing it to roll over on I-95 Northbound and spill hundreds of gallons of oil.

The accident took place between exits 88 and 89, in Groton, around 3 p.m Wednesday. The highway was shut down as a result.

Construction workers who were painting the bridge above saw the whole thing happen.

"Never in my life would I have ever expected something like that," said Bunny Laugeni. "It was a beautiful day, traffic was flowing fine, then all of a sudden."

Laugeni and her crew were working on the bridge when they heard the loud sounds of tearing metal and screeching brakes.

The tanker spun out of control off the highway and into the ditch, taking out three cars.

"Our guys went and pulled the gentleman out of the truck," said Elizabeth Barber, "had fire extinguishers just in case and one of the cars burst into flames and went out quickly. They pulled the woman out of the car."

Witnesses say that a fourth car cut off the oil tanker and then took off.

Three people were taken to the hospital, as DEEP and firefighters tried to control the leaking oil.

In all, approximately 1,200 gallons of home heating oil spilled out of the truck and into the roadside ditch. Fortunately, they were able to contain it from the Groton Reservoir.

"It's a mile away, so I don't know if it would make it down that far," said Barber.

After a couple hours State Police were able to get one lane open and then two, but the damage was done as rush hour traffic spilled off the highway into Groton, with everyone looking for a way around the closed highway.

"It's a grid lock right now," said Barber. "It sucks, so we are trying to take the back roads to avoid it."

Police are searching for the fourth car that reportedly cut off the oil tanker. There are cameras all up and down the I-95 corridor, so officials hope they can find the driver and interview him.