Car still trapped after collapse as officials warn it will take months to fix
A vehicle is still trapped after a section of busy highway collapsed following a major truck fire.
Part of the northbound I-95 highway in Philadelphia, US, collapsed on Sunday and it could take "months" to repair, officials said.
The collapse came after a truck burst into flames causing a portion of the highway to completely collapse.
Around 160,000 vehicles use the collapsed section every day and is said to be one of the busiest highways in the area.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said: "At least one vehicle is still trapped underneath the collapsed roadway."
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Mr Shapiro said the situation "remains fluid" and added that authorities are "still working to identify any individual or individuals who may have been caught in the fire and the collapse."
A view of the collapsed portion of Interstate 95 (AP)
Thick, black smoke rising over the highway (@MarkFusetti/Twitter)There were no reports of fatalities or injuries following the truck explosion which happened around 6.30am near Princeton Avenue.
Restoring the highway is likely to take “some number of months,” according to Mr Shapiro.
“With regards to the complete rebuilt of [the] I-95 roadway, we expect that to take some number of months,” the governor said.
“We expect it to take that time, and we will have that specific timeline set forth once the engineers in Penn DOT have completed their review."
He added: "I found myself thanking the Lord that no motorists who were on I-95 were injured or died."
The northbound lanes of I-95 were gone and the southbound lanes were 'compromised' by heat from the fire (AP)Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll said the affected part of the highway is “likely the busiest interstate in the commonwealth."
Transportation officials warned of extensive delays and street closures and urged drivers to avoid the area in the city's northeast corner.
Officials said the tanker contained a petroleum product that may have been hundreds of gallons of gasoline.
The fire took about an hour to get under control.
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Around 160,000 vehicles use the section every day (JoeHoldenCBS3/Twitter)The northbound lanes of I-95 were gone and the southbound lanes were “compromised” by heat from the fire, said Derek Bowmer, battalion chief of the Philadelphia Fire Department.
Runoff from the fire or perhaps broken gas lines caused explosions underground, he added.
Some kind of crash happened on a ramp underneath northbound I-95 around 6.15 am, said state Transportation Department spokesman Brad Rudolph, and the northbound section above the fire collapsed quickly.
At least one vehicle remained trapped after the highway collapse (AP)The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it was sending a team to investigate the fire and collapse.
Mark Fusetti, a retired Philadelphia police sergeant, said he was driving south toward the city’s airport when he noticed thick, black smoke rising over the highway.
As he passed the fire, the road beneath began to “dip,” creating a noticeable depression that was visible in video he took of the scene, he said.
He saw traffic in his rear-view mirror come to a halt. Soon after, the northbound lanes of the highway crumbled.
“It was crazy timing,” Mr Fusetti said. “For it to buckle and collapse that quickly, it’s pretty remarkable.”
The collapsed section of I-95 was part of a $212 million reconstruction project that wrapped up four years ago, Rudolph said.
There was no immediate time frame for reopening the highway, but officials would consider “a fill-in situation or a temporary structure” to accelerate the effort, he said.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a Twitter post that President Joe Biden was briefed on the collapse and that White House officials were in contact with Shapiro and Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney’s offices to offer assistance.
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