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 baking sunshine to scrape up the remains of the fast-decaying cephalopods.
Accident Details and Response
The incident occurred Sunday morning in Narragansett when the driver of a tractor-trailer transporting the squid failed to make a turn, causing the vehicle to fall onto its side, according to a statement from the town's police department reported by ABC News. The driver and a passenger in the truck were not injured.
“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.”
The police department reported “significant traffic disruptions and an extended road closure” from approximately 9:30 a.m. until 5:15 p.m. on Sunday.
Cleanup Efforts and Odor
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. The warm conditions accelerated the decay of the squid, intensifying the smell.
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.”
Legal and Economic Context
ABC News 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.
