The Kolkata-Chennai national highway near Gannavaram came to a standstill for nearly an hour on Tuesday afternoon when a tank full of liquid oxygen smoked the road and blocked visibility.
A truck carrying liquid oxygen, used for medical purposes, was heading towards Guntur from Visakhapatnam. After crossing the airport junction at around 1 p.m., the truck was hit by another truck from behind resulting in leakage of the liquid oxygen. This triggered panic among locals and motorists scurried away at the sight.
Due to the pressure on the tank’s rear, the valves in the bottom got opened and entire liquid had spilled out, said District Fire Officer D. Niranjan.
By the time fire department was informed by a passer-by and fire tenders reached the spot, the entire liquid had leaked from the tanker and turned into dense clouds of oxygen-enriched air. It vaporised and remnants of the liquid accumulated on the road. “We rushed to the spot with two fire tenders and spilt water on the ground to dilute the liquid. It took nearly two hours to get rid of the smoke,” Mr. Niranjan said.
Gannavaram police, who first reached the spot, controlled the traffic and tried to stop the leakage but in vain. Later they cleared the accumulated particles on the road and restored traffic.
