Massive traffic jam on Athens-Corinth highway due to burned tanker carrying natgas

A massive traffic jam, extending up to 15 kilometers, occurred on the main Athens-Corinth tollway’s westbound lanes on Thursday afternoon, after a tanker carrying seven tons of natural gas caught fire, requiring the fire brigade to both extinguish the flames and carefully drain the still untouched flammable gas.

The incident occurred at around noon, with the old Athens-Corinth highway, below the tollway, only opened to traffic at around 8 p.m. local time.

Thousands of vehicles were stranded, with road crews handing out water bottles and ambulances on standby on the other side of the roadway. People in “at risk” groups, such as the elderly and pregnant women was evacuated by ambulances, while thousands of motorists had left their vehicles to head for the nearest rest stop at the Megara juncture.

The operation to evacuate the natural gas was described as taking hours.