Acid leak shuts motorway

A busy motorway was closed down for several hours this morning (Fri) after a lorry transporting a dangerous substance came off the road.The 54-year-old driver of the Hungarian truck carrying sulphuric acid was uninjured when the vehicle overturned and landed on the embankment at around 5.30am on the A4 eastern motorway. The man may fallen asleep behind the wheel, police have said.Fire-fighters managed to pump off around 20 litres of the leaked substance. The incident caused long tailbacks, and authorities stressed substantial damage to the environment could not be ruled out.The A4 is a key route in the Vienna area since it connects the city to rural Burgenland, a region from which thousands of people commute to the capital. The motorway is also the quickest way to get to the Vienna International Airport (VIA) and Hungary.