Panic gripped Chhatrapur College Square along the NH-16 in Ganjam district after an lPG-loaded tanker turned turtle killing three persons, including a woman, on the spot and began leaking.
The lorry, belonging to the Hindustan Petroleum (HP), began to leak as soon as it overturned. According to Southern Range IG of Police Amitbah Thakur, the incident took place at around 12 noon when the tanker was on its way to Bhubaneswar from Visakhapatnam.
The tanker’s driver lost control while trying to avoid an accident with a scooter and the vehicle rammed into a nearby betel shop crushing the three persons under it. The victims’ identities were yet to be ascertained.
“We have retrieved the body of one person. The rest other two bodies will be retrieved after engineers arrive here, stop the gas leak and lift the vehicle,” said Thakur.
Meanwhile, as preventive measures were announced by the district administration through mike that within one-km radius gas burners and cigarette lighters shall not be used. Apart from this, the administration restricted the movement of vehicles along the NH. Power supply was also disconnected in the locality to avoid any fire accident due to the gas leak.
“As long as the tanker is not evacuated, we will be forced to impose the restrictions,” said Thakur. District Collector Prem Chandra Choudhury and SP Narasingha Bhol rushed to the spot and supervised the operations. HP engineers from Vizag and a technical team from Jatni, Khordha also started operations to stop the leakage.
SP Narsingha Bhol said, “Our prime goal is to avoid any further mishap due to gas leak. As the accident has occurred in a crowded area where shops and houses are located on both sides of the NH, we have appealed to the people not to switch on electric equipments or ignite gas burners and light cigarettes.”