A major spillage of cooking oil taken place on a flyover that forms part of the Marsa Junction, resulting in a road closure, Transport Malta said.

The flyover from Garibaldi road to Aldo Moro is closed, and the spillage affected the road beneath the flyover too.

This road will remain closed to traffic until Saturday afternoon or night until the necessary repairs are carried out, journalists were told. 

The accident occurred at around 11am when a truck carrying an estimated 200 litres of cooking oil spilled its contents. At first it was reported in the press that the driver had not stopped, however sources told this newsroom that the driver was on site, and will be spoken to by the police.

Addressing journalists in the afternoon, Infrastructure Malta CEO Ivan Falzon said that the top layer of asphalt was damaged by the spill and will need to be stripped and relaid. Works will start at 1am, he said.

Around 300m of affected road will need to be relaid, Falzon said. 

In terms of cost of damage, he said that it will be in the thousands. "We are talking about verifying the surface and relaying what we call a wearing course, which is the final surface of asphalt."

The traffic system has been disrupted with traffic jams reported in the area.

Contractors were deployed to clean up the spill before the asphalting works can start.

Civil Protection Department officers were on site.

The flyover takes traffic from Luqa to Marsa and forms part of Malta's Ten-T priority road network.

It was opened in 2019 as part of the €70 million Marsa Junction project.