A gas tanker, carrying 17 tons of LPG, fell on its side while negotiating a curve on the National Highway (NH-16) near Venkojipalem in the city in the early hours of Wednesday.
The gas did not leak out of the tanker and the absence of traffic on the busy highway as it was at around 2 a.m. saved the day. “Had the gas leaked out of the tank, it would have resulted in a major disaster,” said Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic) K. Prabhakar, who was supervising the regulation of traffic in view of the accident.
Scores of youths and passers by gathered after dawn and many took pictures and selfies with their mobiles as heavy duty cranes were requisitioned to lift the gas tanker. A safety team from HPCL supervised the lifting of the tanker and to prevent possible leak of the gas.
“The vehicle lost control due to a technical problem managed to slow down. Otherwise, the tanker would have run into the buildings alongside the road,” said the tanker driver Dharmendra, who had a miraculous escape.
The gas was loaded into the tanker at the HPCL Petro Park and it was bound for Khurda Road in Odisha State. The gas was to be filled into cooking gas cylinders at Jatni for household distribution.
