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Great Belt Bridge fire causes massive delays on Danish motorway

Ritzau/The Local
Ritzau/The Local - [email protected]
Great Belt Bridge fire causes massive delays on Danish motorway
Photo:Mathias Øgendal/Ritzau Scanpix

Traffic on Denmark’s Great Belt Bridge, which connects the islands of Zealand and Funen, was at a standstill for several hours on Monday after a lorry caught fire.

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The fire on the bridge halted traffic in both directions between 1:30pm and 4pm, Ritzau reports.

Rail services were also delayed by the fire.

The incident caused extensive queues on the motorway on Monday afternoon before traffic began flowing at 5pm after the bridge was fully reopened.

“The road has now been cleared and both lanes of the Great Belt Bridge are open on the Funen-bound side. The closure has caused a massive queue that will take a while to clear, so expect long travel times until early evening,” the Danish Road Directorate (Vejdirektoratet) wrote on Twitter at 5pm on Monday.

Funen Police had confirmed at 4pm that the bridge had been partially reopened after the fire.

“There is serious queuing because of the lorry, which must be cleared, but traffic towards Zealand is beginning to look regular again,” duty officer Sten Nyland told Ritzau.

The lorry that caught fire was travelling towards Funen when the incident occurred. Thick, black smoke poured from the burning truck, obscuring visibility in both directions on the bridge.

Traffic in both directions was subsequently halted will emergency services tackled the fire. The truck was carrying food waste, according to Funen Police.

The cause of the fire is currently unknown and no injuries are reported as a result of the incident.

READ ALSO: Copenhagen-Aarhus rail bridge could reduce journey time to 58 minutes

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