
M7 motorway delays in Sydney as truck bursts into flames
The M7 remains closed southbound at Cecil Hills in the city's south-west, more than three hours after the fiery scenes unfolded just after 5am.
Footage from a passing motorist showed firefighters battling the massive inferno as thick smoke billowed into the sky.
The truck driver managed to escape the vehicle unharmed.
It's understood the truck was carrying a load of carpets.
The gutted remains of the truck remain at the scene.
Diversions remain in place via Elizabeth Drive and Cowpasture Road.
Motorists should consider using The Horsley Drive and Cowpasture Road, or Elizabeth Drive and Cowpasture Road to rejoin the M7 at Hinchinbrook.
Allow extra travel time as traffic is heavy in both directions.
Traffic delays extend past Hoxton Park Road.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Reuters
8 hours ago
- Reuters
SOCCER Liverpool's Portuguese forward Diogo Jota dies in car crash in Spain, TVE reports
MADRID, July 3 (Reuters) - Liverpool's Portuguese forward Diogo Jota died in car crash near Zamora, in northwestern Spain, Spanish state-owned TV station said on Thursday, citing local firefighters.


The Independent
11 hours ago
- The Independent
Asian shares mostly higher after US stocks hit another record as Tesla and Nike rally
Asian shares mostly gained on Thursday after U.S. stocks hit another all-time high. U.S. futures edged up while oil prices fell. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 inched up 0.1% to 39,794.16. In South Korea, the Kospi added 1% to 3,106.46, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.1% to 8,589.30. The Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 1% to 23,976.41. The Shanghai Composite index edged up 0.1% to 3,57.36. Taiwan's TAIEX surged 1.4% while India's Sensex rose 0.3% Mizuho Bank, Ltd., in a commentary, said there is lopsided optimism about Vietnam's deal with the US, with Vietnamese imports subject to 20% tariffs in return for 0% tariffs on U.S. goods. 'A higher 40% tariff on goods deemed to be transshipped via Vietnam could accentuate risks to and from China,' it said, adding that 'other Asian economies will be particularly vulnerable to a two-sided geoeconomic squeeze given that their reliance on both China and U.S. are significant.' President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he reached a deal with Vietnam, where U.S. products sold in the country will face zero tariffs and Vietnamese-made goods will face a U.S. tariff of 20%. That helped companies that import lots of things from Vietnam, including Nike, whose stock rose 4.1%. Factories in Vietnam made half of all Nike brand footwear in its fiscal year of 2024. The S&P 500 rose 0.5% and set a record for the third time in four days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down by 10 points, or less than 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.9%. Tesla helped drive the market higher and rose 5% after saying it delivered nearly 374,000 of its Model 3 and Model Y automobiles last quarter. That was better than analysts expected, though the electric-vehicle maker's overall sales fell 13% from a year earlier. Worries have been high that CEO Elon Musk's involvement in politics is turning off potential Tesla buyers. Constellation Brands climbed 4.5% despite reporting a weaker profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It pointed to slowing growth for jobs in the construction industry and other '4000 calorie+' sectors, which tends to hurt demand for its beer. But the company selling Modelo beer and Robert Mondavi wine nevertheless stuck with its financial forecasts for the full upcoming year. They helped offset a 40.4% drop for Centene. The health care company withdrew its forecasts for profit this year after seeing data that suggests worse-than-expected sickness trends in many of the states where it does business. It was the worst day for the stock since its debut in 2001. All told, the S&P 500 rose 29.41 points to 6,227.42. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 10.52 to 44,484.42, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 190.24 to 20,393.13. In the bond market, Treasury yields were mixed ahead of a highly anticipated report on Thursday, which will show how many jobs U.S. employers created and destroyed last month. The widespread expectation is that they hired more people than they fired but that the pace of hiring slowed from May. A stunningly weak report released Wednesday morning raised worries that Thursday's report may fall short. The data from ADP suggested that U.S. employers outside the government cut 33,000 jobs from their payrolls last month, when economists were expecting to see growth of 115,000 jobs. The ADP report does not have a perfect track record predicting what the U.S. government's more comprehensive jobs report will say each month. That preserves hope that Thursday's data could be more encouraging. But a fear has been that uncertainty around President Donald Trump's tariffs could cause employers to freeze their hiring. Many of Trump's stiff proposed taxes on imports are currently on pause, and they're scheduled to kick into effect in about a week. Unless Trump reaches deals with other countries to lower the tariffs, they could hurt the economy and worsen inflation. Other factors could also be dragging on the job market, such as the U.S. government's termination of protected status for 350,000 Venezuelans, potentially exposing them to deportation. That alone could create a drag on payrolls of 25,000 jobs, according to Goldman Sachs economist David Mericle, whose forecast for Thursday's report is weaker than many of his peers. In other dealings on Thursday, the benchmark U.S. crude lost 45 cents to $67, while Brent crude, the international standard, shed 47 cents to $68.64. The dollar was trading at 143.77 Japanese yen, up from 143.65 yen. The euro was unchanged at $1.1790.


Daily Mail
12 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Expert sounds the alarm about Anthony Albanese's new 'stealth tax'
A car expert has slammed Labor's new efficiency scheme targeting vehicles that emit too much pollution a 'stealth tax' in bad news for ute and 4WD enthusiasts. Anthony Albanese 's New Vehicle Efficiency Standard means carmakers will face stiff penalties if they sell too many large petrol and diesel vehicles in coming years, as part of Labor's plans to slash ute and 4WD emissions by 47 per cent by 2029. The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FDAI) estimates the new tax will add $13,250 to the price of a Toyota LandCruiser and $6,150 to a Ford Ranger. John Cadogan, a motoring writer with Auto Expert, slammed the scheme as a 'stealth tax' that would fail to make Aussie drivers embrace electric cars. 'Ordinary car buyers simply are not queuing up to buy EVs,' he said. 'Well done all concerned for assembling a system tailor made to deliver cars that statistically nobody wants. 'Essentially, carmakers have to keep lowering the average CO₂ levels emanating from the exhausts of the vehicles they sell or pay the price - I mean tax. 'It's a tax on your next HiLux or Ranger basically.' Under the new rules, hybrid or electric versions would have to replace the diesel variants in the range if carmakers wanted to avoid paying steep penalties. But the new rules are hardly enticing Australian motorists into buying more fully electric cars with utes making up four of the top 10 vehicles sold in June, and SUVs making up the rest. The rules aren't boosting the sales of fully-electric cars either, with Tesla Model 3 sales diving by 36 per cent to 1,132 in June, compared with a year earlier, data from the Electric Vehicle Council showed. This was less than half the 2,243 Toyota LandCruisers bought in June. The Ford Ranger was Australia's No.1 bestseller again in June, but its 6,293 sales marked only a small 0.1 per cent increase, compared with the same month in 2024, even though it's now available with a plug-in hybrid version. The Toyota HiLux with 6,195 monthly sales, and the Isuzu D-Max, with 3,119 ordered, are both mainly available as diesels. Hybrid and electric versions of both models are not yet sold in Australia. The BYD Shark 6, however, came in at fourth place with 2,993 sales, and it's only available as a plug-in hybrid. The Australian-designed but Thai-built Ford Everest, based on the Ranger platform, was the most popular SUV with 2,705 sold, marking a 19.3 per cent increase compared with a year ago. Other SUVs on the top 10 list included the Mazda CX-5 (2,582 sales), Hyundai Kona (2,484 sales), Toyota RAV4 (2,421 sales) and Hyundai Tucson (2,332 sales). Despite the new emissions standards, more big utes are coming to Australia next year with Kia now taking orders for the new Tasman with a turbo diesel engine. MG is also launching the U9 ute later this year, with diesel and hybrid engines.