Huge explosion at Panama Canal’s Bridge of the Americas leaves one lifeless and a number of injured | EUROtoday

A large explosion underneath the Bridge of the Americas has killed one individual and injured two, briefly closing the very important crossing over the Panama Canal.

Smoke and flames engulfed a part of the bridge, footage on social media confirmed, after a gas tanker truck exploded within the space of La Boca, underneath the 5,400ft-long bridge. Cars and buses sped up with the intention to transfer previous the explosion.

More than 75 firefighting items and 45 autos have been deployed to struggle the blaze, in keeping with Panama’s hearth brigade service.

One employee, presumed to be working close to the truck, died within the hearth firefighter chief Victor Alvarez stated in a press convention. Two firefighters suffered minor accidents, he added.

“The investigations are just beginning,” he stated. “It would be premature and irresponsible on our part to speculate about the causes of this incident at this time.”

A logistics corridor was reopened at 4am GMT-5 after the bridge was temporarily closed by the Panama Canal Authority in coordination with the Transit and Land Transportation Authority.

A statement from the authority read: “In response to the emergency that caused the temporary closure of the Bridge of the Americas, the Panama Canal Authority informs that, in coordination with the ATTT (Transit and Land Transportation Authority), the Logistics Corridor between the Brujas Highway and the Centennial Bridge will be reopened on April 7 at 4:00 a.m. to facilitate the mobility of residents of Veracruz and Panama Pacifico.

“Panama Canal operations continue as normal. We recognize the work of the Panama Fire Department and other institutions that responded to the emergency.

“The Panama Canal Authority expresses its solidarity with those affected.”

The Bridge of Americas spans the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal, a significant waterway for commodities connecting the Panama Sea with the Pacific Ocean.

Amid a gas disaster brought on by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in Iran, the Panama Canal’s deputy administrator, Ilya Espino de Marotta, instructed CNN in March that the waterway had acquired a “slight increase” in vessel transits.

“The latest thing we’ve seen is an increase — a slight increase in the number of transits,” a press release from the administrator, seen by CNNlearn. “Let’s remember that now, with higher fuel prices, the Panama Canal definitely becomes a more attractive route because it’s shorter.”

The Panama Canal, roughly 50 miles lengthy, noticed 2.3 million barrels of crude oil and petroleum liquids transit per day within the first half of 2025 – a rise from the 2 million a day the 12 months prior, in keeping with the U.S Energy Information Administration.