The A709 motorway, which serves as an urban boulevard south of Montpellier, has been cut off in both directions of traffic since 6:25 a.m. on Tuesday morning.
"A heavy goods vehicle caught fire this morning around 5 a.m. on the A709 motorway between the Vendargues (No. 28) and Montpellier-Sud (No. 30) interchanges towards Narbonne", evokes Vinci Autoroutes.
Since 5:35 a.m., the entrance to Vendargues in the direction of Narbonne has been closed.
An hour later, the entrance to Montpellier Sud was also entered in the direction of Lyon.
This accident on Montpellier's busiest access road is causing major disruption on the city's secondary roads.
The vehicle must be evacuated
Significant resources from the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service are committed to extinguish the fire which generates thick black smoke.
"The SDIS 34 chemical risk intervention cell is mobilized because of the chemical materials (dichlorobenzene) transported by the heavy goods vehicle on fire", specifies the prefecture of Hérault.
"Vinci Autoroutes teams are mobilized to allow emergency services to intervene, then to evacuate the vehicle involved in order to restore normal traffic conditions as quickly as possible", specifies the company managing this section of motorway.
For their first night in the Alpine, the Gard gendarmes have not been idle
Four suspects charged with a series of thefts from motorhomes on the A9
Miscellaneous facts
highway
Fire
Heavy weights
Montpellier
Occitania
Languedoc Roussillon