Seven people were killed and 13 others injured – five of whom grievously — when a petro-chemical tanker skidded, overturned and blew up off the Charoti-naka near Dahanu on the busy Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway, on Saturday afternoon.
So powerful was the petro-chemical tanker explosion that six vehicles including two 6-seater autorickshaws, one bike, two cars and a hand cart which were in the vicinity of the mishap-hit vehicle were damaged. The leaping flames from the burning vehicle also gutted a portion of a hotel, Apsara, located in the neighbourhood.
The incident, which took place between 2.30 pm and 3 pm, also disrupted the traffic on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway, which connects Mumbai and Thane with Gujarat and northern States including Delhi. The highway had to be shut down for a few hours from both the ends so that other vehicles are not affected. Shops in the periphery were also closed as part of precautionary measures.
Five were admitted to a sub-divisional hospital, where their condition is still “critical” while the driver was killed on the spot, others killed have not been identified so far. By 6 pm, the fire brigade and highway authorities managed to extinguish the fire and tow the tanker away, thus throwing open the highway to traffic partially.
The tanker belonging to a leading petrochemical company was on way from Gujarat to Mumbai, when the mishap took near Dahanu in neighbouring Thane district, 100 km from Mumbai. most of the victims were standing near the place where the accident occurred on the busy highway. Excepting the driver, others killed in the mishap have not been identified so far.
Some of the injured were shifted to Thane civil hospital. Most the bodies of those killed in the mishap were charred beyond recognition. The police are planning to conduct DNA test on the charred bodies to ascertain the identities of the deceased.