Hazardous gas leak from container truck on highway in Pune; no injuries reported

Pune, Sep 16: Gas leaked from a container truck loaded with hydrogen peroxide on a highway in Maharashtra's Pune district on Friday, and no injuries were reported in the incident, a fire official said.

The leak was reported when the truck was at Shindewadi, off the Mumbai-Bengaluru Highway, around 7.30 am, the fire official from the Pune Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (PMRDA) said.

Firefighters who specialised in handling hazardous gases were rushed to the spot and no injuries were reported in the incident, he said.

"We received a call around 7.30 am, and within 15 to 20 minutes, the team rushed to the spot. As hydrogen peroxide is highly flammable, even a spark from a truck's silencer could have triggered a fire," PMRDA fire officer Sujit Patil said.

The truck was taken away from the main highway and the team plugged the leak and sprayed water jet to clean the chemical spilt on the road, he said.

Traffic remained smooth and no one was affected due to the leak, the official added.