By Benedict O'ConnorA LORRY driver has been killed after his truck careered across two lanes of dual carriageway and plummeted 40ft onto the side of an underpass.

By Benedict O'Connor

A LORRY driver has been killed after his truck careered across two lanes of dual carriageway and plummeted 40ft onto the side of an underpass.

But his 13-year-old son, who was travelling in the lorry at the time of the accident, was thrown clear of the wreckage and escaped without serious injury.

The accident happened on the A14 outside Kentford, near Newmarket, at about 3.30am on Saturday, when his articulated lorry appeared to have gone out of control on the westbound carriageway and smashed through the central reservation.

Fortunately, no other vehicles were travelling in the opposite direction at the time, but the lorry continued on its course and veered off the edge of the road, which is effectively a bridge over the underpass from Kentford onto the eastbound carriageway.

Suffolk police believe the teenager was thrown clear of the lorry at this point before it plunged down the sheer drop to the ground below.

The lorry driver, a 59-year-old man from Mirfield in West Yorkshire, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.

A police spokesman said the boy had suffered cuts and bruising, but added his injuries were not to be life-threatening.

No other vehicles were involved in the incident and police, who have launched an investigation into the crash, said it was too early to say what had caused the lorry to leave the road.

Fire crews from Newmarket and Bury St Edmunds were called to the accident scene and the road was closed in both directions for several hours, causing huge tailbacks, bolstered by the large number of Christmas shoppers on the road.

Highways Agency staff worked for several hours to repair the damage to the central crash barrier caused by the lorry, while traffic was diverted eastbound via the A11 and westbound through Kentford.

The names of the dead man and his son have yet to be released by police, but a spokesman confirmed the boy's mother had been contacted and taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, by West Yorkshire Police, where her son was being treated.

Anyone with information about the accident should contact Bury St Edmunds traffic police on 01284 774224.

benedict.o'connor@eadt.co.uk