VIENNA - Thousands of chickens shut down part of an Austrian motorway during the morning rush hour on Tuesday (July 4), after a truck driver dozed off at the wheel.

According to CNN, 7,500 chickens which were being transported to be killed for food, made a run for it when the truck met with an accident and left them exposed.

While no human injuries were reported, some chickens were unfortunately killed in the accident, which occurred on the A1 highway near the city of Linz.

Local police said boxes containing dead and injured chickens were stream over a 160m stretch of road, while thousands more ran onto both sides of the motorway, according to Agence France-Presse.

The truck driver admitted to falling into "a second-long sleep", during which he veered right and collided with a bridge pillar, Mr Franz Rockenschaub of Highway Police Inspection Haid told CNN.

That section of the highway was closed due to the incident, and caused long traffic jams in the other direction as drivers slowed down to look at the unusual sight.

It took the efforts of 120 firefighters to get the chickens that survived the crash back into the truck, according to CNN.