Watch as a section of the highway in Philadelphia falls after a tanker truck catches fire.

After a tanker truck carrying explosive goods caught fire early on Sunday in Philadelphia, an elevated piece of Interstate 95 collapsed, closing a heavily used section of the primary north-south road on the East Coast indefinitely, according to authorities.

highway in Philadelphia falls after a tanker truck catches fire.

Transportation authorities advised motorists to stay away from the northeastern region of the city because of significant delays and street closures.

According to officials, the tanker may have had hundreds of litres of petrol in a petroleum product. It took nearly an hour to put out the fire.

According to Derek Bowmer, battalion chief of the Philadelphia Fire Department, the northern lanes of I-95 were destroyed, while the southbound lanes were “compromised” by the heat from the fire. Explosions underground were likely triggered by runoff from the fire or possibly damaged gas lines, he added.

According to state Transportation Department spokesman Brad Rudolph, a crash of some kind occurred on a ramp underneath northbound I-95 approximately 6.15 am, and the northbound section above the fire immediately collapsed. We are currently evaluating the severely damaged southbound lanes, according to Rudolph.

At least one vehicle is still buried beneath the crumbled roads, according to Governor Josh Shapiro, who said on Sunday night that he planned to declare a disaster on Monday to expedite federal funding. “We’re still working to identify any individual or individuals who may have been caught in the fire and the collapse,” he added.

There were no reports of injuries right away.

A sizable concrete slab that had fallen from I-95 onto the road below was visible on the scene’s video.

Shapiro described the area as having “just remarkable devastation” during his fly over it. I found myself thanking the Lord that no I-95 drivers were hurt or lost their lives, he stated.

Former Philadelphia police sergeant Mark Fusetti claimed to have seen thick, black smoke billowing over the roadway as he was travelling south towards the airport.

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According to him, the road beneath the fire started to “dip” as he passed it, causing an observable depression that could be seen on video of the incident he had recorded.

He noticed a stop in traffic in his rearview mirror. The highway’s northbound lanes collapsed shortly after that. “It was crazy timing,” Fusetti remarked. It’s pretty amazing how soon it gave way and fell apart.

According to Rudolph, the 212 million dollar rebuilding project that included the collapsed portion of I-95 was completed four years ago. There was no set date for when the highway will reopen, but he added that officials would look at “a fill-in situation or a temporary structure” to speed up the process.

The 69-kilometer diversion that motorists were forced to take was “going better than it would on a weekday,” according to Rudolph. However, he anticipated traffic “to back up significantly on all the diversion areas” despite the fact that the fall occurred on a Sunday, which helped to relieve congestion.

According to Pennsylvania Transportation Secretary Michael Carroll, the I-95 portion is arguably the busiest motorway in the state, carrying around 1,60,000 vehicles daily. He promised that the collapsed section would be removed as soon as possible and that work would go on all night.

Shapiro claimed to have spoken with Pete Buttigieg, the secretary of transportation for the United States, and to have received assurances that there would be “absolutely no delay” in obtaining federal funding for the speedy reconstruction of what he called a “critical roadway” as securely and effectively as possible.

Shapiro, however, said that it would take “some number of months” to completely rebuild I-95 and that in the interim, authorities were looking at “interim solutions to connect both sides of I-95 to get traffic through the area.”

President Joe Biden was informed about the fall, said to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, and White House representatives were in touch with Shapiro and Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney’s offices to provide help.

It was described as “a major artery for people and goods” by Buttigieg in a social media post, and he claimed that its closure will have “significant impacts on the city and region until reconstruction and recovery are complete.” The National Transportation Safety Board announced that a team would be sent to look into the fire and collapse.

The New Jersey Turnpike is used by most motorists instead of the section of I-95 where the collapse took place between Delaware and New York City.

I-95 in Pennsylvania and I-95 in New Jersey did not have a direct motorway connection until 2018. To go from one to the other, they had to use a few kilometres of surface roads with traffic signals.

The environmental implications of runoff into the neighbouring Delaware River worried officials as well.

The Coast Guard put out a boom to confine the material when a sheen was spotted in the Delaware River close to the collapse site. The tanker had an 8,500 gallon capacity, according to Ensign Josh Ledoux, but the contents did not seem to be dispersing into the surrounding area.

As far as the rivers are concerned, it appears like everything is under control, he said.

According to Dominick Mireles, director of Philadelphia’s Office of Emergency Management, thousands of tonnes of steel and concrete were stacked up on top of the fire site, and heavy construction equipment would be needed to begin clearing the debris.

The blaze was eerily identical to another fire that broke out in Philadelphia in March 1996 and destroyed guardrails and buckled pavement after starting in an illegal tyre dump under I-95.

The roadway was shut down for a number of weeks, with intermittent closures continuing for six months. Arson charges were filed against seven minors. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, the owner of the dump was given a sentence of seven to fourteen years in prison and compelled to pay USD 3 million of the USD 6.5 million repair costs.