M1 highway blaze under control, says Joburg EMS

JOHANNESBURG - Joburg Emergency Management Services (EMS) says the blaze on the M1 highway near the city centre is under control.

On Wednesday, firefighters spent hours fighting the blaze that broke out in the tunnels under the M1 double-decker section in the early hours of the morning.

The route between Empire Road and the Crown Interchange remains closed.

Motorists planning on driving through that route are urged to use alternative routes until further notice.

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Joburg EMS spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi: “The plan is that as soon as we are done with the firefighting operations, we’ll have to go through the whole tunnel just to make sure we extinguish the hotspots and make sure that the tunnel is safe.”

Mulaudzi said it was unclear how long it would take for emergency teams to clear the area.

“The highway is very much still intact and also the tunnel itself looks like it’s still intact, but most of the inspections we’ll conduct after we have extinguished the fire because there is still a lot of smoke coming from the tunnel itself.”