Truck with 20,000 pounds of Starbucks slides down 60 feet at Emerald Bay

THURSDAY 11:30 P.M. UPDATE: SR89 has reopened for the night but will close again at 9 a.m. on Friday morning so recovery efforts can continue.

THURSDAY 7:15 P.M. UPDATE: A tow truck responding at Emerald Bay has one of its chains break during the recovery process and they left to get it repaired. They will return Friday morning around 10 a.m. The road remains closed at this hour.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - SR89 is closed in both directions at Emerald Bay Thursday as crews do emergency work to get a truck carrying 20,000 pounds of Starbucks products back up an embankment.

On Wednesday evening at 6:12 p.m., an oversized semi-truck without chains on its tires was traveling north on SR89. The driver drove past Inspiration Point and was heading down toward Eagle Falls when he saw a stalled vehicle facing south in the northbound lane. The occupants of the car were standing outside the car at the time.

The driver of the truck started to brake on the snowy road and the trailer started to slide to the right. The rig slid toward the disabled car, hitting the front of it. The big rig driver and his passenger both jumped out at this time. As the truck slid on its side, the trailer then hit the car, just missing its occupants.

The truck kept sliding and went down the embankment at Eagle Falls, coming to a rest on its right side about 60 feet down the mountain.

Luckily there were no injuries.

A specialized tow truck from Carson City arrived at 11:23 a.m. Thursday and the highway will remain closed as crews work to get the truck and contents back up the embankment.