Blasts rock Surat–Olpad road after truck carrying LPG cylinders catches fire

SURAT: In a major incident, a truck carrying 300 LPG cylinders of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) caught fire, resulting in a series of blasts on Surat–Olpad road near Masma village at 7.15am on Thursday morning. A spark in the battery devise of the truck caused the fire, which soon spread to the whole vehicle.
A school bus carrying 24 students was moving on the same road at the time of the incident which collided with a truck full of sand coming from opposite direction.
The children of the school bus were moved to safety before the blasts took place.

Four firefighting and water spraying vehicles of SMC were rushed to the spot to contain the fire.

“It is a miracle that the incident didn't cause any major mishap. All the children were moved to safety after collision. The fire spread very quickly. The driver of the IOC truck fled the scene,” said Basant Parikh, chief fire officer.
Parikh also added, “By spraying water, we tried to cool the area due to which some cylinders didn’t catch fire and the blasts were contained.”