Lorry burns to nothing on the M-4 Don highway near Voronezh, driver hospitalised with burns

On the morning of October 31, in the Ramonsky district of Voronezh Region, a truck burned out completely at the 483rd kilometre of the M-4 Don highway. The driver was taken to hospital with burns, people were evacuated from a roadside café, and traffic towards Moscow was blocked — the traffic jam reached about 18 kilometres.

Otabek YusupovFirst published on tafs uz 31 October 2026 at 16:442 min read

The key facts

The fire at the 483rd km of the M-4 Don near the village of Novozhivotinnoye began on the morning of October 31; the alert came in at 9:03
The truck burned out completely, the driver was hospitalised with burns, and people were evacuated from a roadside café
Traffic towards Moscow is blocked, the jam is about 18 km long; the situation is worsened by roadworks on an adjacent section

The truck burned out completely, the driver is in hospital

On the morning of October 31, in the Ramonsky district of Voronezh Region, near the village of Novozhivotinnoye, a lorry caught fire at the 483rd kilometre of the federal M-4 Don highway. The alert about the fire reached rescuers at 9:03, reports Life.ru citing the regional emergency ministry office. By the time crews arrived, flames had already spread across the entire area of the heavy truck, and the fire completely destroyed the vehicle. The driver suffered burns and ended up in hospital. Because of the fire, people also had to be evacuated from a nearby roadside café.

Black smoke was visible from Voronezh, the highway came to a standstill

In footage from the scene, published by the Telegram channel Region-36 (Voronezh with a spark), the fire-engulfed trailer can be seen billowing thick clouds of black smoke that cover the roadway. According to witnesses, the column of smoke was visible even from Voronezh. Because of the incident, traffic towards Moscow was blocked, and a traffic jam about 18 kilometres long formed on the motorway. The situation is further complicated by roadworks on an adjacent section of the highway — meaning drivers planning to travel along the M-4 in this area have to contend with two obstacles at once: the fire site and the repairs ahead.

What remains unknown

The publications do not provide information about the cause of the fire, the severity of the driver's burns, or what exactly the truck was carrying. It was also not reported by what point traffic on the highway had been restored. The Life.ru article ends with a mention of another recent incident — a car explosion in Sevastopol, after which the injured man was urgently hospitalised; the causes and circumstances of that case, according to the outlet, are also being established. The two incidents are not connected.