On 25th June early morning, a tragic event  happened in Pakistan, i.e., an oil tanker exploded on a highway near the village of Ahmedpur on the outskirts of the city of Bahawalpur in eastern province of Punjab in Pakistan. This fire accident culminated with engulfing many lives of people including the nearby villagers and travellers on the highway, causing great agony to the people of Pakistan.

About the Explosion

An oil trucker carrying 25,000 liters (6,600 gallons) of fuel going from Karachi to Lahore went out of control while turning in a sharp bent and it overturned. This incident results in leakage of fuel from the tank onto the road and formed large pools of oil around the tanker. The villagers nearby gathered in the spot to scoop up the spilled fuel using bottles, pots, buckets. Moreover, the travellers on the highways stopped their cars, motorcycles and started to collect oil from the tanker. In the meanwhile, the truck driver and highway security personnel were warning the people about the possibility of risk. Unfortunately, no one had bothered about it. After an hour, the fuel caught fire suddenly and triggered the tanker explosion like a bomb .The fire ball swallowed up around 150 people near to it and injured more than 100 people severely.

Hats off to Safety Team

The firemen rushed to the spot immediately and fought with the flames for nearly two hours to bring down the inferno. Although it is being a difficult task to fight with the blaze of this kind, the fire safety team battled with courage hence saved hundreds of lives.

Reasons for the incident

                Many theories are being talked around about the cause of the fire accident but nothing is confirmed yet. Experts are saying many reasons for the incident such as

  • Someone had lit the cigarette
  • The burst tyre could have caused the tanker to overturn when turning in the steep bent
  • Onlookers at the scene used cell phones to inform the incident to others
  • It could be the poor maintenance of the battery in the tanker.
  • It could have happened due to engine spark.

Necessity for Safety Training

When analyzing the reasons for this incident, it indicates clearly that the people involved in the hazardous material transportation had not undergone proper safety training. The only way to overcome this kind of problem is by providing safety training to the bottom level in all possible ways. In fact, the transportation of fuel is very much essential as the whole world is spinning around with the supply of oil and gas in all the sectors consuming more than 50% of the total energy sources. The transportation of fuels must be gained in safe and fast for the economic growth of the countries.

Prevention Methods

  • Drivers who are transporting explosive materials must be very well trained to drive the vehicles very safely and be competent.
  • Utmost discipline is expected from the truck drivers as a minor negligence could lead to such disastrous effects.
  • They must be educated and trained very well in order to react in emergency situations effectively and to take immediate measures to avoid explosions.
  • Highway patrol could be trained to respond to the situations cautiously.
  • Even though educating the entire public about fire safety is not possible whereas the local community leaders & representatives may be trained to guide the people at the fire-risky situations.
  • Risky locations must be identified prior and frequent emergency drills could be conducted including drivers, authorities, local representatives and public also.
  • Sooner or later, Fire safety awareness camps must be conducted regularly like medical awareness camps by governments & NGOs by taking the support of safety providers.
  • Roads should be kept undamaged and oil tankers must be maintained fairly.
  • Fire extinguisher must be installed in the vehicle as extinguishing the initial flames could avoid the explosion.