LA traffic nightmare as oil tanker explodes on freeway

LA traffic nightmare as oil tanker explodes on freeway

A section of a major Los Angeles freeway could be closed for days after a tanker erupted into flames and burned to the pavement.

The force of the explosion caused structural damage to the underpass above, and the heat was so fierce that concrete from the freeway boiled and popped.

The double tanker truck caught fire on the eastbound 60 Freeway just after midday on Wednesday, and the driver and a passenger were lucky to escape the vehicle as it stopped under the Paramount Boulevard overpass in Montebello, California.

Crews worked through the night to clean up the road, a major artery linking Los Angeles with the San Gabriel Valley and Inland Empire.

Thousands of motorists were stuck in place for hours on Wednesday, and California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers were forced to back traffic up and turn it around, using off-ramps to guide the cars onto clogged surface streets.

Meanwhile, flood control crews and officials from the California Department of Fish & Game worked to contain toxic runoff from the fire. Read More