the amazing scene after an out-of-control lorry hurtled off a bridge and smashed onto the M6 below.
Amazingly, no-one other than the lorry driver was hurt when his articulated truck plunged down onto the motorway=92s southbound carriageway yesterday.
It overturned on impact and came to rest straddling the hard shoulder and two lanes of the carriageway at junction two, near Coventry. The sight was described as =93surreal=94 by Birmingham commuter Daniel Whiteley, who joined other motorists in trying to rescue the stricken lorry driver.
The 41-year-old, who was heading to work in London when the accident happened at 10.40am, said: =93I was driving along in the middle lane when I saw something hanging from the underneath of the bridge.
=93Then I realised it was the cab. It just dropped to the motorway followed by the container.
=93It was a really surreal thing and all happened so quickly
=93There were cars in front of me that couldn=92t stop in time so they swerved around the wreckage and some got hit by debris but it is a miracle the lorry didn=92t land on any cars.
=93The cab was a crumpled mess and I thought there was no way anyone could survive that.=94
Mr Whiteley and other rescuers pulled the lorry driver clear of his cab before paramedics rushed him to hospital in a serious condition.
The drivers of two vehicles, a gold Seat Toledo and a silver Peugeot
307, hit debris on the carriageway but the car drivers were not believed to have been injured.The Highways Agency closed the motorway at junction two.
The closure caused huge tailbacks and delays of up to 90 minutes as cars queued in up to three miles of congestion.
The section of the carriageway remained closed for several hours as the vehicle was removed and the carriageway was repaired.
Warwickshire Police is now investigating the circumstances of the collision.