A northbound section of Interstate 95 in northeast Philadelphia collapsed on June 11 after a tanker truck burst into flames beneath an elevated section of the highway, according to officials.
“Today’s going to be a long day. Obviously, with [I-95] northbound gone and southbound questionable, it’s going to be even longer,” Dominick Mireles of the Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management, told local media outlets.
“Heavy construction equipment [is] going to be required to come in to search and remove that debris.”
City Managing Director Tumar Alexander said, “I-95 will be impacted for a long time, for a long time.”
Derek Bowmer, battalion chief for the Philadelphia Fire Department, told CNN that a portion of the northbound side of I-95, the main north-south highway along the East Coast, collapsed.
It isn’t known if there were any injuries.
President Joe Biden was briefed on the collapse, and the White House has offered assistance to state and local officials, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the closure of I-95 will have “significant impacts” on the region and the city of Philadelphia. Buttigieg said on Twitter that he was coordinating with regional leaders for recovery and rebuilding efforts.
This stretch of the I-95 corridor sits in the dense northeast section of Philadelphia and connects the city to its northern suburbs, like Bucks County.
On a Sunday in the summer, it is routinely used by beachgoers coming home from the Jersey Shore. During the week, it is crowded with commuters and vehicles traveling to Boston, Baltimore, and Washington.
Philadelphia Fire Battalion Chief Derek Bowmer told reporters that crews will be at work for “a while” on trying to determine if fuel or gas lines might have been compromised by the accident.