Brussels Ring Road Gridlock: Vehicle Fire Causes Massive Delays Amid E313 Closure VRTRead the full story via Google News
A vehicle fire and a separate minor collision created a traffic nightmare on the Brussels Ring Road on Saturday, April 11, 2026, leaving motorists stranded in delays that lasted over an hour. The disruptions were amplified by the ongoing closure of the E313 highway between Antwerp and Liège, which has forced a massive volume of diverted traffic onto the Ring Road.
The chaos began around 1:15 p.m. When a driver noticed mechanical issues and pulled over to the shoulder. Shortly after, the vehicle caught fire. According to Peter Bruyninckx of the Flemish Traffic Center, the blaze required the closure of the two rightmost lanes to allow emergency crews to extinguish the flames and tow the vehicle.
The situation was further complicated by a second, smaller accident involving two vehicles in the same area near Jette. This combination of incidents occurred at a critical time, as the Ring Road is currently serving as the primary detour for drivers traveling from Limburg toward the coast due to the E313 closure. The E313 is shut down through Thursday morning to facilitate the replacement of two motorway bridges in Deurne.
“At one point, drivers near Jette had to wait more than an hour to cover a stretch of just 7 kilometers,” Bruyninckx stated.
Authorities confirmed that both the fire scene and the minor collision were cleared by 3:00 p.m. On April 11, 2026, at which point all lanes were reopened to traffic. The incident underscores the fragility of the region’s transit network when major arterial highways are closed for infrastructure repairs, as any minor accident on a detour route can lead to immediate and severe congestion.
