A massive fire broke out in South Mumbai’s Bhakti Park area in Wadala on Monday night after an oil tanker crashed underneath the area’s overhead monorail line. The tanker burst into flames following an accident with another vehicle, said fire officials.
The tank driver was killed in the burst, while the driver of the other vehicle suffered critical injuries.
The incident was reported to have taken place at around 10:45 pm on Monday night near the RTO office on Sewri-Chembur road. According to a report in the Hindustan Times, the tanker, which was travelling towards Chunabhatti, hit a tempo and lost balance before it exploded.
“The driver of the tanker is dead and the driver of the tempo is injured. Since it was a local tanker covering a short distance, there was no one other than the driver,” a fire official told the newspaper.
A report in the national daily also quoted an eyewitness saying that the tanker was trying to overtake the tempo when the accident occurred leading to the blast. The tempo was hit and the driver received severe injuries. The oil tanker lost its balance and fell. There was an explosion due to the flammable material inside the tanker,” Ahmad Ali Mansoori, a resident of Shanti Nagar, told the daily.
Things, however, were brought under control by the police and five fire tenders successfully extinguished the flames before it could cause further damage.