BRUSSELS – Rush hour traffic was stopped in its tracks for hours on Tuesday after a lorry carrying sunflower oil accidentally shed its load on Belgium’s busiest motorway.

Motorists faced traffic chaos after the sunflower oil spilled onto the E-40 towards Liege and the E19 direction Antwerp.

Several accidents were caused by the spillage, with two of them causing injuries.

The fire brigade was forced to clean up the 4km mess with canons firing hot water.

But the timing of the accident, which occurred during the busy rush hour, made the consequences for motorists even more catastrophic.

Motorists were unable to access the Brussels ring road  for hours as the fire brigade attempted to make the road surface safe to travel on again.

Drivers coming from Reyers, Liege, Zaventem and NATO found themselves trapped while large traffic jams built up in the Woluwe suburb.

[Copyright Expatica 2006]

Subject: Belgian news