On Sunday, a vehicle was still trapped underneath a huge amount of wreckage from the part of I-95 in Philadelphia that collapsed. Officials mentioned that it will take several months to rebuild the overpass that was destroyed fully.
Authorities declared there were no casualties or injuries due to the tanker explosion that caused the overhead section of the vital interstate highway to collapse. Governor Josh Shapiro spoke at the location of the collapse, saying that at least one vehicle is still stuck under the rubble of the collapsed road and that authorities are still trying to determine if anyone was there during the fire and collapse.
An explosion caused by a tanker truck containing a petroleum-based product caused the overpass of I-95 to collapse at 6:20 am. Governor Shapiro reported that the highway’s northbound lanes were entirely decimated, while the southbound lanes remain fragile.
He anticipates the total reconstruction of the I-95 roadway to take several months and stated that a disaster declaration would be issued the following day to speed up the process and summon federal funds to begin the repair process. Moreover, Shapiro had a conversation with the US Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, in which Buttigieg promised to deploy federal resources to support the rapid reconstruction of this major roadway.
In the meantime, Pennsylvania Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll declared that the state transportation authorities were striving to devise alternate routes and public transportation services to assist people in avoiding the damaged road. He further said that a contractor had been hired and had sent the necessary tools to the explosion site within several hours to start the fixing process.
Carroll noted that they would be devoting the following 24 hours to clearing away the debris as swiftly as they could and then begin the replacement and repair work.