Vehicle catches fire in Zelzate tunnel: tunnel reopened after being closed for hours (Zelzate)

The fire brigade received a report at 9.15am on Monday morning about an unattached and overturned trailer that had caught fire at the start of the Zelzate tunnel, on the E34 towards the coast. They reached the site with several teams to extinguish the fire. The smoke development was visible from a distance.

After about an hour the situation was under control. “The vehicle was completely burned and was in the middle of the road,” said fire department spokeswoman Renée Vansteenwinkel. “There were no injuries.”

Closed for hours

The accident happened at the beginning of the tunnel, so no other vehicle was involved in the tunnel. There was no need to move anyone through the emergency tube. Long traffic jams arose, as the tunnel was closed for hours in both directions – towards Knokke and towards Antwerp.

Trucks were guided through the tunnel under supervision. Cars were forced to turn around and were disturbed by the police. Drivers who were involved in traffic jams for a long time received water from the fire brigade. All was cleared again around 1pm.

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The fire was one with spreading flames and lots of smoke. This damaged the roof of the tunnel. The light fixtures are partially melted, but will be repaired Tuesday night.

This repair is taking place when the Zelzate tunnel was previously closed. “We were already planning to close the tunnel on Tuesday night from 9pm to 5pm,” said Tess Bonte from the Roads and Traffic Agency (AWV).

In early July, the light in the coastal leg of the tunnel went out and emergency repairs were carried out. “That was a temporary solution at the time. We are now carrying out detailed repairs, which will require the electricity in the tunnel to be switched off for a while. We will immediately repair the damage caused by the fire.”

Driveway traffic will continue via Zelzate Bridge.