M62 and M60 traffic chaos with huge delays after lorry fire shuts motorway

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Commuters and those looking to get away for the weekend are facing travel chaos this evening after a lorry was engulfed by flames.

A stretch of the M62 heading from Greater Manchester to West Yorkshire remains closed this evening following the dramatic blaze this morning, with disruption also affecting the M60.

The fire erupted in a HGV carrying a load of sawdust just before 10.20am this morning. At least four fire engines from the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS) rushed to the scene, close to junction 22, the Rockingstone Interchange, which is near Saddleworth. READ MORE: LIVE M62 traffic updates as lorry full of sawdust bursts into flames forcing motorway to shut The motorway has been fully closed eastbound from junction 20 to junction 24, with two of the three lanes on the westbound side also being closed due to smoke drifting across the carriageway.

The fact the truck contained sawdust meant it proved "difficult to fully extinguish" as it "kept reigniting", National Highways said.