Footage showing a lorry losing control and crashing into a power line in Bourne, Massachusetts, has been released by local police.

The video was captured by another motorist’s dashcam as the tractor-trailer-unit towing close to 12,000 gallons of unleaded fuel careered into the power line.

The crash split a telephone pole in two, flipping one half into the electrical wires, sending an explosion of shocking blue electric light. The lorry then safely came to a stop on the other side of the road.

The 63-year-old male driver said the reason for his collision was a bird flying into the vehicle and hitting his head.

Bourne police have been unable to confirm the driver’s account of the incident. Upon viewing the dashcam footage, the police department noted that the truck had slowly travelled across multiple lanes rather than swerving as the driver suggested.