A truck driver died on the spot, and others were injured after a car’s tyre blew out and hit a fuel tanker, causing it to roll over and catch fire on the Gold Star Bridge in Groton, Connecticut, USA.

A big explosion shut down a section of Interstate 95 on Friday when a petroleum tanker collapsed on a key bridge in Connecticut, sending a column of smoke and flames into the air and killing one person, according to state officials.

According to local officials, a blown-out tire on a passenger vehicle set off a chain reaction that resulted in the explosion, which also injured at least two other people on the bridge, melted part of the bridge’s outer guard rail and spewed a large amount of home heating oil into the waters of the Thames River.

According to Connecticut State Police spokesperson Sergeant Christine Jeltema, the southbound lanes of Interstate 95 “will be closed for quite some time” as officials decide if the Gold Star Memorial Bridge is safe to traverse.

“The intense, wicked heat could potentially compromise the steel, but we hope that is not the case,” Governor Ned Lamont said during a press conference on Friday.

He stated that it was unclear how much fuel was in the truck at the time of the incident but that its maximum capacity was 2,800 gallons.

The bridge, which connects the coastal cities of Groton and New London, is an important transportation link in eastern Connecticut at the state’s border with Rhode Island.

The cities it links have multiple institutions as well as a substantial military presence, notably the US Coast Guard Academy and Naval Submarine Base New London, the principal naval base for attack submarines on the East Coast.

[Tribune]