The Hindustan Petroleum tanker, which overturned on Moolchand underpass causing the petrol spill, was on its way to Varanasi. (Photo by Abhinav Saha)
A tanker carrying aviation turbine fuel (ATF) overturned near the Moolchand underpass on Tuesday morning, with around 4,000-5,000 litres of the fuel spilling onto the arterial Ring Road causing massive traffic jam, police said on Tuesday.
The driver and the helper of the 20,000-litre Hindustan Petroleum tanker, which had a Haryana registration number, were injured in the process and admitted to AIIMS, police said.
A Hindustan Petroleum company official said, “The tanker was carrying 20,000 litres of ATF. However, the quantity of the spill has not been ascertained yet.” Police, however, said that around 4,000-5,000 litres of the fuel spilled onto the road.
A police officer, privy to the details of the case, said: “The rains were heavy and the roads had become slippery. The tanker, belonging to Hindustan Petroleum, was on its way to Varanasi from Bahadurgarh. While crossing the underpass, a motorcycle unexpectedly overtook it and in a bid to save it and a car, the tanker hit the divider and overturned.”
According to police, the area was cordoned off and the fire services were employed to drain out the petrol from the road. The cranes removed the tanker from the spot around 6 am. Till then, the traffic was manually directed.
Pilot Bawariya, who lives under the Moolchand flyover, and is the only eyewitness to the incident, told The Indian Express: “I heard some commotion when I was having my morning tea. I rushed to the area and saw that a tanker had overturned, there was petrol all around. The stench was really strong. I rushed to the spot as the traffic had been stopped. But everything returned to normal in two to three hours.”
