Fire brigade personnel spay water on an overturned gas tanker at Chhatrapur in Ganjam district, Sunday.
Post News Network
Berhampur: Three persons, including a woman, standing near a betel shop were killed when a gas tanker overturned and fell on them on National Highway 16 at Chhatrapur in Ganjam district Sunday, police said.
The gas leakage was also reported from the tanker following which police have imposed restrictions on movement of vehicles through the area, a senior police official said. Ganjam superintendent of police Narsingh Bhol said one body has been extricated while identification of all three victims is yet to be ascertained.
The Bhubaneswar-bound LPG-laden tanker from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh was suspected to have met with the accident when the driver tried to prevent an accident with a scooter rider, police said.
A roadside betel shop was also damaged when the gas-loaded vehicle fell on it, Bhol said. The victims were standing near the pan-shop when the accident occurred, he said.
Kiranbala had come to attend a police constable interview at Chhatrapur and was standing with her father at the roadside when the tanker overturned.
Fire rescue units and police were camping at the spot and all efforts were being taken to shift the tanker off the road to prevent the spread of the gas. Some cranes and five fire engines from Chhatrapur, Berhampur, Rambha and Khallikote were called for assistance to shift the tanker.
Soon after the accident gas started leaking from the tanker. Water was sprinkled by the fire brigade personnel over the tanker. Electrical equipment were switched off in the area to prevent a fire.
Police also requested people over the public address system not to ignite a lighter and a gas stove even in their homes till the shifting of the tanker.
Senior police and district officials, including inspector general of police, southern range, Amitabh Thakur rushed to the spot.
‘‘Since the gas continued to leak from the tanker, we have restricted movement of vehicles through the highway in the area. The vehicles are being diverted through Jagannath Pur. People were evacuated from a radius of one km to avoid any eventuality,’’ the SP added.
‘‘The effect of the gas leakage would prevail for at least 12-hours. So we have requested the people not to use fire in the area for at least 12 hours,” he added. The district administration has informed the gas company about the leakage.
While one technical team from Jatni rushed to the spot, another from Visakhapatnam reached the site to check the leakage of the gas.
