Witnesses and British emergency services say a truck has struck an overpass and collapsed a pedestrian bridge onto one of England’s busiest highways, injuring one person.
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No people are believed to be trapped in the debris, however one person is believed to have suffered injuries, not reported to be life threatening at this time, Kent Police said.
Gary Coleman from Highways England said: “We are facing a real challenge to lift two HGVs and a motorbike clear of the scene and deal with all of the rubble from the collapsed bridge strewn across both carriageways”.
A Kent Police spokesman said: “It is believed a lorry collided with a pedestrian bridge which has collapsed on to the carriageway below”.
He said his fiancee has been struggling in the back of the auto after two-and-a-half hours of waiting with no movement.
Kent Police said it is treating it as a “major incident” and confirmed that officers were at the scene, along with Kent Fire and Rescue Service and South East Coast Ambulance Service.
Chilling video footage from a driver on the other side of the carriageway showed how the bridge appeared to have come crashing down on the rear end of an articulated lorry.
A precautionary 50mph limit is in place in both directions past the bridge. Its website advises drivers travelling clockwise on the M15 to Dover to continue on the M25 and use junction J2 to join the A2 and M2.
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A stretch between junctions one and four was cleared following Saturday’s accident, which saw the bridge, located between junction three for the M26 and junction four for Tonbridge and West Malling, struck by a digger being transported on the back of a lorry.
