– The driver was unable to stand up – VG

At 6:43 p.m., the police moved to Gamle Sørlandske in Stathelle, following a report of a truck that had run into a concrete culvert and a barrier was jammed.

– The driver looked obviously intoxicated. He did not want to cooperate for a breath test, so we have taken a blood sample from him, the operations manager in the southeastern Øystein Eikedalen police district tells VG.

Telemarksavisa (TA) has spoken with a neighbor at the scene of the accident.

– We realized that something had happened outside, so we went there. We asked in English if it went well or if something could be done. But we did not get an adequate answer, he just muttered, says the neighbor to TA.

Neighbors alerted the police and the ambulance.

While police were on the way, the truck driver tried unsuccessfully to get the truck out to escape, the neighbor says.

– The driver could not stop, he just staggered, says the neighbor.

Fortunately, there was only material damage in the accident.

The director of operations says the driver is an Estonian man in his 50s.

– He’s been arrested and taken into custody, so we’ll see what happens next here, says the operations manager.

An image of the accident site that has been given access to VG shows that the vehicle has left a bottle of vodka on the ground.

Police confirm that it likely originated on the train.

– We are familiar with the bottle. So it’s easy for two plus two to become four. At the same time, it is not entirely clear whether he drank from the bottle while driving, but there are many reasons to believe that it originated from his vehicle, Operations Manager Eikedalen answers questions about the bottle pictured.

– What do you think of the fact that such an apparently drunk person drove in traffic?

– Now there is nothing that surprises me after 35 years in the agency. But I can well be quoted saying that it is shocking.