The four  lanes  of the Pan-American highway, heading towards Panama City, in Loma Cová and be closed starting at 10 pm on Tuesday, September 28 for  repair work on the collapsed road says the Ministry of Public Works (MOP)

By noon, three lanes had already been closed and only one was enabled, heading towards the interior of the country.

On Monday, the subsidence of a part of the highway was registered, near the 7 de Septiembre neighborhood of Arraiján (West Panama), due to the leakage caused by damage of a pipeline.

“We have excavated and we have found that the left lane is also compromised. The slab is in the air, ” Zacarías Álvarez from the MOP's Maintenance Department reported earlier.

He added that the third lane - in the direction of the interior of the country - is also compromised and after the first inspections it was closed.

At 10:00 pm the four lanes in Loma Cová will close;  work continues after part of

The closure has caused major traffic congestion since yesterday afternoon.

From early hours on Tuesday, agents of the Traffic Operations Directorate reinforced the lane reversal operation to the capital city to try to speed up the flow of vehicles as a lane was partially closed.

How long the repair work may take has not yet been reported.