Visitors toast each other on a sunny day during Oktoberfest in Munich, September 27, 2008. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

BERLIN (Reuters) - A busy intersection in the German city of Kassel turned into a lake of frozen beer on Tuesday when some 1,600 bottles smashed after poorly secured crates flew off a delivery truck, police said.

The truck, carrying 12 tonnes of freshly brewed beer, lost most of its load on a sharp left-hand turn at the bottom of a hill, according to Kassel police inspector Wolfgang Jungnitsch.

Nearly 80 crates carrying about 800 litres flew off the truck, most of the bottles smashed, and their contents quickly froze in the chilly temperature of about -4 degrees Celsius (25 Fahrenheit), he said.

“A sheet of ice quickly formed and the air was filled with beer fumes,” Jungnitsch said.

It took an hour to clear the intersection, and police said the trucker faced a fine for not securing his load properly.