Dramatic photos have been released of the rescue of a US lorry driver after she crashed off the edge of a bridge.

The woman was pulled from her cab from over the side of the George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge connecting Louisville, Kentucky, to southern Indiana.

She was unharmed but three other cars were involved in the crash, and two people were taken to hospital with possibly life-threatening injuries, according to Louisville Metro Police.

The truck was removed from the bridge at around 8pm on Friday and the cause of the crash is under investigation.

The bridge carries about 24,000 vehicles a day over the Ohio River. Officials said at a press conference that the bridge is safe and passed an inspection last year, but acknowledged that its four lanes are relatively narrow.

The accident was reported shortly after noon on Friday.

After that, it took about 40 minutes to set up a rope system and get a firefighter, Bryce Carden, ready to abseil down to the cab, hook the driver up to a safety harness and lift her safely back to the road, Louisville fire chief Brian O’Neill said.

In a social media post on Friday, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg thanked “Carden and the other first responders who rushed to the scene today and bravely rescued the truck driver on the Clark Memorial Bridge. She is alive thanks to your heroic efforts”.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet said engineers were conducting assessments and inspections of the bridge on Saturday morning.