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A dramatic blaze has engulfed a public bus on the West Gate Bridge, causing traffic chaos and closing all outbound lanes.
The fire broke out on the major thoroughfare just before 6pm on Monday. A spokeswoman for Victoria Police confirmed the fire was not being treated as suspicious and no one was injured in the blaze.
After closing all outbound lanes on the freeway, the Department of Transport warned traffic was already stretching back to the Domain Tunnel, about eight kilometres from the bridge.
The department had reopened two outbound lanes by 6.50pm on Monday.
It is not yet know how many people were on the bus when the fire broke out.
A spokeswoman for Fire Rescue Victoria said the fire was first reported at 5.45pm, and when five crews of firefighters arrived eight minutes later, it was “fully alight”.
Traffic builds up on the West Gate Bridge after outbound lanes were closed on Monday evening because of a fire engulfing a public bus.Credit: Nine
The blaze was extinguished by 6.20pm, but a cause has not yet been determined, the spokeswoman said.
Motorists have been warned to avoid the West Gate Freeway and instead seek alternatives, such as Footscray Road into Footscray, returning to the freeway using Williamstown Road, Millers Road or Geelong Road.
“Surrounding roads through Southbank, South Melbourne and Port Melbourne are congested leading onto the West Gate Freeway,” a spokesperson for the Department of Transport said.
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