IPOH: A three-kilometre crawl hit the North-South Expressway near the Menora tunnel this morning after a container lorry caught fire at Km260.1 of the major highway.
Operations chief from the Meru Raya fire station, Mohd Fauzi Hashim, said the incident forced the closure of both lanes to allow firefighters to put out the blaze.
"We, together with the police, closed the road at 7.50am.
"It took us about 30 minutes to put out the fire," he said, adding that the lorry, which was heading to Sungai Petani from Shah Alam, was 40 per cent destroyed.
The vehicle had been transporting bottles of drinking water.
Fauzi said the department received a distress call at 7.44am and a team from Meru Raya, with assistance from the Kuala Kangsar fire station, were rushed to the scene.
"Fortunately, no casualties or injuries were reported from the incident," he added.
The affected lanes were re-opened after the operation was completed at 8.38am.