A12 lorry crash victim pictured for first time as family pay tribute to 30-year-old married mechanic
Truck crashed off a bridge on to the busy dual carriageway and burst into flames
THE family of a 30-year-old married mechanic killed when the lorry he was driving ploughed off a bridge on to a busy dual carriageway below have said they will "miss him forever".
Gurdip Johal, 30, died when the lorry smashed on to the A12 in Witham, Essex, and burst into flames on Wednesday afternoon.
Gurdip's sister Mandip Kaur told the : "We are going to miss him forever and we are never going to be OK.
"It doesn't feel real. It doesn't feel like this has actually happened."
Today police continued to search the mangled wreckage of the lorry amid fears more casualties would be found, but this afternoon were able to announce that Gurdip was the only casualty.
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Motorists travelling on the road said it was a miracle the lorry did not smash into cars when it plummeted.
Essex Police said: "Police have finished their search for any other potential casualties following the road collision on the A12 on Wednesday afternoon.
"Management of the scene has now been passed over to Highways England.
"Essex Police can now confirm that the only casualty following the incident was the driver of the lorry."
One lane of the A12 southbound reopened this morning as police continued to investigate and remove 26 tonnes of batteries from the container.
A witness to the crash told: "I'm going home northbound, and I've come around the bend, and I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
"I saw this lorry hit the barrier on the bridge and all the metal railings were flying off like anything, and I thought, 'Jesus, he's going to come over'.
"The traffic started to slow down on the northbound of the A12, and then the lorry's just come off the bridge, gone through the trees on the embankment, and just come all the way down and smashed on to the floor, and all the railings, all the concrete, came down on to the floor.
"It's a miracle that no cars were hit on the A12.
"I'm not allowed to say anything else of what I saw, as I slowed right down - there were no police there, just other lorry drivers stopping to help.
"It was horrific, absolutely horrific. It's something like out of an adventure movie, I'm quite shaken up about it.
"I don't know what's happened, it was just crazy."
Metal railings from the bridge could be seen hanging down over the A12 where the lorry had broken through the barrier.
A video showing the aftermath of the horror crash shows a stunned man walking around the wreckage of the truck with a fire extinguisher.
Five crews from Essex Fire and Rescue, police officers and an air ambulance were called to the scene.
Joe McCallum, from Essex, arrived immediately after the crash and said part of the lorry container was on fire.
A photo he posted on Twitter showed a crumpled vehicle resting on the barriers of the carriageway below, spilling over into the road.
The 28-year-old van driver said he believed it was a lorry carrying frozen goods, but that he could not see anything more due to its "mangled" state.
Essex Police have asked anyone who witnessed the incident or has any dashcam to contact them on 101.
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