Dozens of animal carcasses blocked a road in a large village in Northern Ireland yesterday evening (Wednesday, April 5) when an articulated lorry shed some of its load.

The incident happened around 7:00p.m on the Duncastle Road at the junction with Victoria Road in Newbuildings, Co. Derry.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) had advised motorists to avoid the area and diverted traffic along the Tagharina Road to allow a major clean-up operation to take place.

𝗖𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗡 𝗨𝗣 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗪𝗔𝗬 ✅ ⚠️𝐌𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 ⚠️ Animal wastage is currently blocking the road at the Newbuildings, Victoria road following an incident. Please avoid the area. #newbuildings pic.twitter.com/KOMm0BHxtw

— Gary Middleton MLA (@Gary_Middleton) April 5, 2023

Local residents, farmers and contractors, including Killen Bros Contracting, arrived at the scene to help clear the animal waste from the road.

Diggers were used to move the carcasses back to the lorry, before council road crews cleaned the road. Image: Gary Wilkinson

Foyle DUP MLA Gary Middleton, who was at the scene last night, praised the efforts of local people in the clean-up operation.

The road has now been fully reopened to traffic.

However, Middleton said that he has contacted the local council to carry out further disinfection of the area this morning.

Meanwhile, road users have been urged to slow down over the upcoming Easter Bank Holiday weekend.

The warning comes as the latest statistics show that 87 people were seriously injured or killed over the holiday period during the last five years.

The Road Safety Authority (RSA) and an Garda Síochána have issued a fresh road safety appeal for this weekend (from April 7 to April 10).

They highlighted that bank holidays bring a higher volume of traffic onto the road across the country, and with this comes an increased risk of collisions.

Statistics show that there were 11 fatalities and 67 serious injuries as a result of collisions over the Easter bank holiday over the last 5 years.

This year to date an increased number of people, 45 in total, have lost their lives in fatal road crashes compared to the corresponding period last year.