Ethanol-laden tanker overturns in Bokaro, erupts in flames

Bokaro: An ethanol-laden tanker erupted in flames after its driver lost control over the vehicle and it overturned while attempting to avoid an autorickshaw on the Tata-Purulia-Bokaro stretch of National Highway-32 near the Gawai river bridge under Pindrajora police station area on Thursday.

The 16-wheel tanker was carrying nearly 40,000 litres of ethanol. The auto driver fled from the scene along with his vehicle.

The tanker was travelling from Bokaro to Bengal. The injured driver was rescued from the vehicle and admitted to Bokaro Sadar Hospital. Police said his identity is yet to be established as he remains unconscious. Officials are also trying to ascertain whether a helper was travelling with him at the time of the accident. Chas sub-divisional police officer Praveen Kumar Singh said, “The road has been blocked as precaution till the tanker if removed.”

The highly inflammable nature of ethanol made firefighting operations extremely difficult. Fire tenders continued to make repeated trips for water refilling as flames kept erupting intermittently till around 5.30 pm. Teams from ONGC, SAIL, CISF also reached later and helped state fire services jointly carry out the firefighting operation for hours.

Vehicular movement on NH-32 was completely suspended as a precautionary measure, leading to long traffic snarls on both sides of the highway.
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