Truck with LPG cylinders catches fire after collision, triggering blasts
Multiple blasts reported near Dudu area on Jaipur-Ajmer highway; DyCM Bairwa says no casualties, but drivers and cleaners of both vehicles remain missing
Multiple explosions shook the Jaipur-Ajmer highway on Tuesday (October 7) night when a truck carrying LPG cylinders caught fire following a collision with a tanker.
As the gas cylinders began to explode, some of those flew several metres away from the spot in the impact. Flames and explosions were visible and audible from several kilometres away.
Traffic halted
Police officers and fire brigades reached the site near the Dudu area, and traffic on the highway was halted.
IG Jaipur Rahul Prakash said two to three persons, including the tanker driver, were injured in the incident.
CMHO Jaipur-I, Ravi Shekhawat, said according to initial information, the driver of the offending vehicle was taken to a nearby hospital for primary treatment.
Also read: Jaipur: 11 killed, over 30 injured after gas tanker collides with multiple vehicles
Situation under control: DyCM
Deputy Chief Minister Prem Chand Bairwa, who reached the spot on Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma’s directions, said the situation was under control and no casualties had been reported.
Bairwa told reporters that drivers and cleaners of the trucks were missing. The police and administration are trying to locate them.
“There is no information on casualties yet,” he said.
None admitted to hospital
Senior police and district administrations are also present on the spot.
CMHO Shekhawat said all the arrangements have been made at SMS hospital. However, no injured people have been brought to the hospital so far.
“According to initial information, one man was given primary treatment in a hospital in Dudu,” he said.
Also read: Karnataka | Another Ayyappa devotee succumbs as cylinder blast toll mounts to six
Tanker hit truck
Meanwhile, eyewitnesses said the truck transporting LPG cylinders was parked outside a roadside hotel and its driver had gone for a meal.
“A tanker hit the truck carrying LPG cylinders from behind. The driver of the tanker was taken to a nearby hospital with injuries,” said Vinod, an eyewitness.
In December last year, an LPG tanker collided with a truck near Bhankrota in Jaipur on the same highway, sparking a massive fireball that turned a stretch of the highway into an inferno, killing 19 people.
(With agency inputs)