Section of highway collapses in Philadelphia after vehicle fire

A portion of a major US highway has collapsed in Philadelphia after a vehicle caught fire under it, city officials said Sunday.

They also said in a statement that preliminary reports indicated that a tanker truck was involved in the fire. There were no injuries.

Smoke billowed from the rubble of the collapsed section of the northbound lanes of I-95, the main north-south interstate highway on the East Coast. Video showed emergency vehicles and workers gathered in the vicinity of the massive, charred and collapsed section of the overpass.

Traffic in both directions of the eight-lane freeway was discontinued due to concerns for the structural integrity of the remaining southbound stretch.

President Joe Biden was informed of the collapse and the government offered help to state and local authorities, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the closure of I-95 will have “significant impacts” in the area and in the city of Philadelphia. Buttigieg said on Twitter that he is coordinating recovery and rebuilding efforts with state authorities.

This stretch of the I-95 corridor is in the dense northeast section of Philadelphia and connects the city with its northern suburbs, such as Bucks County.

The head of the Philadelphia fire brigade, Derek Bowmer, explained to the press that they fought a large fire from a vehicle. “We tried to extinguish the fire…we received reports that it could have been a tanker with hazardous materials or something like that,” he said.

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