It took several hours for the vehicle to be cleared from the spot, during which time the motorists had to go through a harrowing time to cross the spot. The incident happened around zero hours on Thursday morning. The tanker, which was carrying chemical waste that is yet to be identified, hit the median on Durgabai Deshmukh Road and overturned in the impact.

The accident happened around 1 am, the vehicle was removed and kept off the road around 4 am. But due to the spillage, the stretch was made one-way till 10 am. Finally, conservancy workers were deployed to clear the slippery spillage from the blacktop by around 10 am. By then, there was a long pile up of vehicles on the stretch.

Adyar traffic investigation police, who have registered a case about the incident, told DT Next that it was not clear where the tanker was coming from and what kind of chemical waste it was carrying because the officials were not able to communicate properly with the lorry driver who hails from north India. The driver who suffered minor injuries has been admitted to the Government Royapettah Hospital for treatment.

According to police officials, the driver lost control of the vehicle after hitting the median, due to which the tanker overturned leading to spillage of the chemical waste. Further investigation is on to ascertain what the chemical waste is and how the tanker carrying it ended up in the middle of the city.