Manchester City supporters travelling to Wembley for the Carabao Cup final faced a dramatic start to their day after a double-decker coach carrying fans caught fire on the M6 Toll motorway, forcing the closure of the southbound carriageway and causing significant delays across the route.
All passengers and the driver were safely evacuated from the Ridleys coach before firefighters arrived to tackle the blaze, which broke out between junctions T3 and T2 on the M6 Toll southbound near Birmingham. Footage of the burning vehicle spread rapidly on social media, with onlookers watching from a nearby hillside as flames engulfed the double-decker. Traffic came to a standstill across all lanes while emergency services dealt with the incident.
National Highways for the West Midlands confirmed emergency services were at the scene and urged those held up to be patient. Normal traffic conditions were expected to resume between 1.30pm and 1.45pm.
Ridleys Coaches confirmed in a statement that all those on board had been evacuated without injury and that replacement transport had been arranged to continue their journey to the stadium. “We are grateful to the emergency services for their swift response,” the company said, adding that it was working with authorities to establish the full circumstances of the incident.
The motorway fire was not the only travel headache for supporters heading south. A separate collision on the M1 caused gridlocked conditions approximately 1.9 miles from the Wembley turn-off, preventing some City fans from exiting at Junction 1 to join the A406 North Circular toward the ground.
City face Arsenal at Wembley at 4.30pm in what represents the first major trophy opportunity of the season for both sides. Manager Pep Guardiola, who has guided City to four previous Carabao Cup victories, expressed cautious optimism about his team’s form ahead of the final despite a recent Champions League exit to Real Madrid. “I have the feeling in many things we’re just underneath our peak,” he said. “We will flourish — I have the feeling that it’s close.”
