Mumbai: Huge gas tanker blast on highway kills one

Mumbai, March 4: One person was killed and 14 injured when a LPG tanker caught fire on major highway near a slum in Mankhurd suburb in Mumbai in the early hours of Monday.

The blazing tanker overturned and the flames quickly spread to the nearby slums when the tanker carrying around 18 tonnes of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) gas suddenly caught fire on the Eastern Express Highway . There was a loud explosion and the horrific incident took place around 2 a.m.

One unidentified person was killed while 14, including three women, sustained burn injuries. The injured have been admitted to Shatabdi Hospital in Govandi. Seven of the injured are reportedly critical.

Nearly 20 fire tenders, water tankers and foam dispensers were deployed from nearby fire stations to battle the deadly inferno. Traffic on the busy Eastern Express Highway, which connects the metropolis to the Navi Mumbai and National Highway 4, was suspended to facilitate fire-fighting operations.

In a similar incident, a gas tanker exploded on the Pune-Solapur highway late on Saturday night after a car collided with it. At least one person was reported dead and a few others injured in the incident that occurred around 10.30 pm
An Indica car collided with a tanker that was waiting at a petrol pump in Varkute village, in Indapur police station limits. As a result, the valve of the gas tanker came loose and gas began to leak. Even as people began to move away, there was a huge explosion.

OneIndia News