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Major traffic delays after truck fire on West Gate Bridge, truck break down on Hume Fwy, rollover on Queens Rd

Motorists travelling Melbourne’s freeways and major arterial roads are facing long delays after a spate of incidents involving trucks.

Traffic building up on West Gate Bridge after truck fire. Picture: Supplied/VicTraffic
Traffic building up on West Gate Bridge after truck fire. Picture: Supplied/VicTraffic

Traffic is at a standstill in Melbourne’s west and north after two separate incidents on major freeways.

A truck fire on the West Gate Bridge is causing delays of more than 30 minutes after four of the five inbound lanes were closed on the West Gate Bridge when a truck caught fire about 12.15pm on Tuesday.

Just one lane is open with traffic backing up to Millers Rd.

Four inbound lanes are closed on the West Gate Bridge after a truck fire on Tuesday afternoon. Picture: Supplied/VicTraffic
Four inbound lanes are closed on the West Gate Bridge after a truck fire on Tuesday afternoon. Picture: Supplied/VicTraffic

Authorities have set the speed limit to 40km/h for “the safety of emergency services working on the roadway”.

“We ask motorists to be patient and to obey the overhead signals,” a Department of Transport and Planning spokesman said.

“This incident is under the control of emergency services, and lanes will re-open when it’s safe to do so.”

Motorists heading towards the city from Melbourne’s west were urged to exit the freeway early and detour through Kingsville, Footscray and West Melbourne to avoid congestion.

A broken down truck has caused the right lane of the Hume Freeway to close outbound before Cooper St. Picture: Supplied/VicTraffic.
A broken down truck has caused the right lane of the Hume Freeway to close outbound before Cooper St. Picture: Supplied/VicTraffic.

On the Hume Fwy, a truck breakdown has brought traffic to a halt.

The right lane of the Hume Freeway is blocked outbound before Cooper St.

Only one lane is able to pass, causing a significant traffic jam.

Truck rolls, narrowly misses drivers

Meanwhile, another incident involving a truck has slowed traffic in the city.

A concrete truck that crashed and rolled onto its side on Queens Rd near King St Tuesday afternoon narrowly avoided crushing other vehicles, according to witnesses.

The single vehicle accident which occurred just after 2pm is still being investigated with the cause of the accident still to be determined.

A concrete truck crashed and rolled onto its side on Queens Rd near King St narrowly avoided crushing other vehicles, according to witnesses. Picture: Eddy Lichtig
A concrete truck crashed and rolled onto its side on Queens Rd near King St narrowly avoided crushing other vehicles, according to witnesses. Picture: Eddy Lichtig

The driver of the truck has been taken to hospital in a serious condition according to police, with witnesses saying life saving procedures were performed on the driver by emergency services.

Eddy Lichtig told the Herald Sun how the shocking accident unfolded right in front of him, and how his car was nearly crushed by the concrete truck.

“The truck just missed me,” he said. “It did a full flip and tumbled over and cement splattered all over the road.

“We all ran out of our cars to help. It was like it was straight out of the movies.”

Witnesses say the truck narrowly missed flattening other vehicles when it rolled over. Picture: Facebook
Witnesses say the truck narrowly missed flattening other vehicles when it rolled over. Picture: Facebook

Mr Lichtig said emergency services rushed to the scene and quickly began CPR on the truck driver.

“The truck driver was pulled out unconscious on the side of the road and multiple people were doing CPR,” he said. “It all happened right in front of me.”

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/major-traffic-delays-after-truck-fire-on-west-gate-bridge-and-truck-break-down-on-hume-fwy/news-story/e84ffbc6509230dae177a32e6fca99b8