Chhatrapur: In two different incidents of road mishaps, a gas tanker overturned on national highway (NH-16) at Tampara near Chhatrapur town and then a police van coming to rescue the victims of the first accident also turned turtle in Ganjam in the wee hours of Wednesday. The accidents happened due to dense fog.
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In the first incident, the driver of the gas tanker lost control over the vehicle which led to the road mishap. Chhatrapur police and officials of the Ganjam district administration blocked both sides of the road apprehending danger due to gas leak. This has led to heavy traffic congestion in the locality.
A fire-fighting team also reached the spot and efforts are underway to bring the situation under control. Police forces have been deployed in the area to avoid any untoward situation, a police official stated.
Police sources said the tanker was loaded in Visakhapatnam and left for Jatni gas depot of HPCL Tuesday night. At around 5.30am it rammed into a road divider here and overturned.
In the second incident, five policemen including sergeant, Sanjay Barik, who were on their way to the tanker accident site suffered serious injuries when the vehicle they were travelling overturned while trying to save a motorcyclist on the NH-16.
The injured police personnel were immediately rescued and rushed to sub-divisional hospital here for treatment. Barik was shifted to Cuttack SCB Medical College and Hospital and others to the Berhampur MKCG Medical College and Hospital, after their conditions deteriorated.
Rescue and safety teams from Vishakapatnam and Jatni have reached the site where the tanker overturned. They will supervise the transfer of the gas to another tanker.
PNN
