The A7 motorway towards northern Luxembourg reopened on Wednesday morning after being closed for around three hours following reports of smoke in the Grouft tunnel, causing major traffic disruption during the morning rush hour. According to the Grand Ducal Fire and Rescue Corps (CGDIS), smoke was reported in the tunnel at around 5.15am, prompting authorities to close the A7 from the Waldhaff interchange from 5.20am.
Traffic backed up in several directions, with congestion stretching onto the A1 motorway and the N11 towards Eich and Gonderange.
Both the Grouft and Stafelter tunnels reopened to traffic heading north at 8.19am, allowing traffic to gradually return to normal.
The cause of the smoke has not been officially confirmed. However, RTL understands that one of the tunnel's recently replaced ventilation fans may have triggered the incident.
By the time emergency crews arrived, no smoke was visible. The ventilation system was shut down so each fan could be inspected before the tunnels were reopened.
Maintenance work has been taking place overnight in recent weeks to repair and replace ventilation fans in the Grouft tunnel after technical defects were identified. Authorities have not yet released an official explanation for the incident.
