A cement truck carrying a full load overturned Saturday morning on the eastbound lanes of H-1 freeway at the King Street cutoff, causing a lengthy traffic tie-up but no serious injuries.

The eastbound lanes were closed for 31⁄2 hours while the mess was cleaned and the truck removed.

"I think people were lucky, given the size of the truck involved and the circumstances of the accident, that nobody was killed," said police Lt. Gerrit Kurihara.

Kurihara said the truck struck a sport utility vehicle driven by a 50-year-old woman and a Honda Civic driven by an 18-year-old man. The collision happened at 10:05 a.m.

The woman, who suffered back and shoulder pain, and the 31-year-old cement truck driver, who had back pain, were taken by ambulance to an area hospital in stable condition, police said. The Civic driver left the scene on his own.

The driver of the Island Ready-Mix Concrete truck told police the truck had a mechanical malfunction that caused it to wobble.

The driver temporarily lost control of the vehicle and as he tried to avoid the collision the truck turned on its side, spilling some of its load onto the freeway 41 feet east of the Waialae overpass.

Honolulu firefighters scooped up much of the mess before it hardened, Kurihara said.

The truck was righted at about 12:15 p.m. and the freeway was reopened just before 1:30 p.m.

Police had to divert traffic off South King Street onto Kapiolani Boulevard and the Kapiolani eastbound onramp.