Massive blaze on Jaipur-Ajmer highway as over 40 gas cylinders explode after road crash

Over 40 LPG cylinders exploded one after another on the busy Jaipur-Ajmer highway on Tuesday night after a chemical-laden tanker rammed into a parked truck carrying them, triggering panic in the area.

Officials said on Wednesday that the tanker driver was burnt alive in the incident and one man was injured.

The explosions and flames were visible and audible from several kilometers away and scrap of the exploded cylinders were found metres away.

Jaipur Collector Dr Jitendra Soni said that a team of Hindustan Petroleum removed all the cylinders while following safety protocol and mechanism.

"Scrap of 42 cylinders was found around the area. They were all exploded cylinders. A total of 120 cylinders were safe. All of them were removed by the team of Hindustan Petroleum that followed all safety measures and protocols to sanitise the area," he told PTI.

The truck transporting the cylinders was parked outside a roadside hotel and its driver had stepped out for a meal when the tanker hit the truck. The cabin of the tanker caught fire and the cylinders spilled out of the truck.

Moments later, the cylinders started exploding and the scrap of some exploded cylinders were found several metres away.

The incident triggered panic in the area and policemen from several police stations were rushed to the spot. The traffic on the highway was immediately stopped and the fire was controlled.

Deputy CM Prem Chand Bairwa was at the spot to take stock of the situation.

"The tanker driver was burnt alive in the incident. Another man is injured," Deepak Khandelwal, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Dudu, said.

He said the traffic was later resumed on the highway.

Eyewitnesses claimed that a Regional Transport Office squad was stopping vehicles for checking on the highway and to avoid them, the tanker driver changed his lane suddenly and lost control, leading to the collision.

The district collector said the reason for the collision was being investigated.

In December last year, an LPG tanker collided with a truck near Bhankrota in Jaipur on the same highway, sparking a massive fireball that turned a stretch of the highway into an inferno, killing 19 people.