Truck buried in Avalanche - Pictures

Here are some pictures of my friends truck buried under an avalanche on Highway 12 near Lolo pass in Idaho.

Amazing how powerful an avalanche can be. He and 11 other trucks were stranded between avalanches out there overnight, good thing he had some help getting out since he only had a small hole to climb out of.

The first picture is of the first avalanche that hit, that only trapped him in requiring a tow to get out.

Picture #2 is where his truck wasn't anymore.
Picture #3 is one tire of the truck visible after being buried
Picture #4 is all you could see of the trailer
Picture #5 is the hole he made to crawl out from the windsheild.

After talking to the driver further he told me that hours before this happened the snow plows left stating "it's too dangerous to be out here".....yet they left the truckers behind when they left. Seems to me that they should have loaded up the stranded drivers and taken them to safety. Look close in that 3rd picture, see the river? The truck is in the river, just sitting up on the ice and snow.
Also note that there were only 4 trucks originally stopped due to an avalanche ahead, the Idaho DOT had not closed the roads yet and 8 other trucks ended up stranded....seems to me of the plows are bailing the road should have been shut down and the drivers taken to safety earlier than they were...after his truck was pushed into the river DOT was back 30 minutes later.

 

Quite the opposite, the company has been nothing but helpful to him, going above and beyond to make sure he's okay and has everything he needs until he can recover his personal items. He's also being given whatever time off he needs. Stuff only goes on your DAC if it's preventable, this was obviously not preventable.