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Around 90 people were evacuated from the A66 motorway tunnel near Neuhof on Sunday after a car caught fire there.
Update from May 10th, 8:29 p.m.: As the police added after the tunnel fire, the Seat was quickly recovered and the fire site was checked immediately. This means that the tunnel tube in the “south” direction will be completely open again at 7:50 p.m. “The traffic jam in front of the tunnel is currently clearing up quickly,” they say.
Major evacuation after fire in the A66 tunnel near Neuhof
To date, there have been no additional reports of injured people. So it remains with the two slightly injured seat occupants. According to the police, the total damage to the road and vehicle was corrected to 30,000 euros. According to the latest information from the emergency services, around 90 people were escorted out of the tunnel and medically examined accordingly. Initially there was talk of 60 evacuees.
First report:
Neuhof – On Sunday at 4:45 p.m. a report was received of a vehicle fire in the south tube of the tunnel in the Neuhof district. According to the East Hesse police headquarters, a Seat Ibiza from the Aschaffenburg area caught fire for reasons that are still unclear. The two occupants were able to get out of the car themselves, but suffered minor injuries from smoke inhalation and were taken to a nearby hospital for further treatment.
As the police report, the tunnel control center closed both tunnel tubes as a precaution after receiving the emergency call. The occupants of around 30 cars and around 30 passengers on a coach were led outside via emergency exits. All people in the tunnel were medically examined as a precautionary measure; According to current information, all but the two occupants of the vehicle involved in the accident remained uninjured.
Large contingent of rescue workers
Numerous fire and rescue services, a rescue helicopter and five patrols from the Petersberg police motorway station and the Fulda police station were deployed, as the East Hesse police headquarters also reported. A radio announcement was made to warn road users.
According to the police, the north tube, which was not affected by the fire, was reopened to traffic at around 6:50 p.m. The south tube initially remained closed. Towing operations were still underway there in the evening, after which it should be checked whether the heat had damaged the road surface to such an extent that further work was necessary. According to the latest information, the southern tube should be accessible again at least in one lane and at reduced speed around 8 p.m.
The police estimate the material damage caused to be around 25,000 euros. If further reliable information is available, the East Hesse Police Headquarters has announced a follow-up report.
There was also a rescue operation in the neighboring Vogelsberg district at the weekend. Near Mücke, two young men crashed a car into a tree and was seriously injured.
