A major mishap was averted on the National Highway-44 when a truck laden with LPG refills caught fire near Enugumarri between Peapully and Dhone in Kurnool district on Thursday morning.
The truck had started from the Hindustan Petroleum bottling plant at Vadiampet in Anantapur district with 450 refills to be delivered at Nandikotkur.
The crew, noticing sparks and flames in the driver’s cabin, jumped off the vehicle and blocked traffic on NH and alerted residents of nearby localities.
Soon, the flames spread to the cargo area of the truck, leading to the explosion of refills. More than 100 refills splintered into pieces for nearly 100 metres.
Fireballs flew for nearly an hour, melting electrical wires in the vicinity, while the truck was totally charred. Thanks to the caution sounded by the crew, traffic on the busy highway was brought to a halt.
Fire tenders, which were rushed to the spot doused the flames. Fire personnel said the damage would have been colossal had the vehicle travelled a little further, as the mishap would have occurred close to a residential area.
Panicked residents who woke up to the deafening noise around 6 a.m., rushed out not knowing what was happening around.
Truck laden with LPG refills goes up in flames after fire breaks out in the driver’s cabin
