MANILA, Philippines ? Motorists had the jitters while traveling on the southbound lane of Edsa in Makati City before dawn Monday after thousands of liters of highly flammable alcohol spilled on the thoroughfare, prompting firefighters to cordon off the area.

Fortunately for everyone in the vicinity, rescue operatives in Hazmat (hazardous material) suits quickly spread sand on the road to prevent a fire from breaking out.

But as a consequence, traffic was snarled for hours, stretching all the way to neighboring Mandaluyong City at around 7 a.m.

The spill occurred at about 3 a.m. when a truck carrying a tank of ethanol hit a post near the Ayala Tunnel and crashed into the protective railing dividing the underpass and the service road, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority said.

The truck, loaded with a tank filled with 22,000 liters of ethanol, suffered a puncture and started leaking its contents, MMDA Traffic Operations Center Executive Director Angelito Vergel de Dios said.

?Ethanol is very flammable so we had to close off the tunnel to traffic,? the official said.

The truck driver, who was not immediately identified, told investigators he had been trying to avoid a speeding bus, but Vergel de Dios said he doubted the driver?s story.

Makati Fire Marshal Jose Embang said two truckloads of sand were spread out on the thoroughfare to absorb the spilled liquid.

By 8:30 a.m., the MMDA said traffic was back to normal on at least three lanes on Edsa.