A section of I-95, one of the busiest in the eastern United States, collapsed in Philadelphia early Sunday morning after a tanker truck caught fire. According to the authorities, it will take several months to restore traffic in this area. .an important road axis, AFP and Agerpres report.

US Highway I-95Photo: Emergency Management / AP / Profimedia

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said at a news conference Sunday afternoon that no one on Highway 95 was injured, but authorities were working to “identify anyone who may have been involved” in the fire.

The fire broke out around 6:20 a.m. (10:20 a.m. GMT), when Sunday morning traffic is usually light.

Dramatic footage broadcast by local television stations showed a huge cloud of black smoke and four lanes of the stretch of highway suddenly collapsing onto the secondary road below. A tanker caught fire on this secondary road.

“This morning a large fire under I-95 (…) caused the freeway to collapse,” Sarah Peterson, a spokeswoman for the city of Philadelphia, confirmed in a statement sent to AFP.

Firefighters “arrived at the scene and found (…) a large fire originating from a vehicle,” added Philadelphia Fire Department Capt. Derek Bowmer at a news conference.

I-95 is a major highway on the East Coast of the United States. Its closure at the northeast entrance to Philadelphia, a city of about 1.5 million people, would severely disrupt traffic to and from New York. Its more than 3,000 kilometers connect the state of Maine, in the extreme northeast of the country, with Miami, the largest city in Florida, in the southeast.

“This is a major artery for people and goods, and its closure will have significant implications for the city and region until reconstruction is complete,” US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg tweeted.

Local media reported that Philadelphia police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are searching for the driver of the tanker, whose whereabouts are unknown.

Buttigieg warned that it could take weeks to restore the damaged section of the highway.

President Joe Biden has been briefed on the situation and his teams are contacting local authorities to provide assistance, White House spokeswoman Karin Jean-Pierre said on Twitter.