The toll in Saturday’s petrol tanker blast went up to 10 with two more people dying due to their injuries, officials said here Sunday.
According to investigating officer D.K. Palwankar of Kasa police station, near Dahanu town, the process of identifying the victims is underway and three men have been identified so far.
The DNA tests will be conducted to ascertain the identity of other victims before the bodies are handed over to their relatives, he said.
Among the dead are at least two women, while 24 injured people have been shifted to hospitals in Mumbai and Thane, Palwankar said.
The tanker was carrying around 35 tonnes of petrol when the driver lost control over it Saturday afternoon on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad national highway.
The tanker skidded, overturned, caught fire and exploded on the highway near Charoti village around 2.30 p.m.
Police officer Preeti Patil of Kasa police station said the burning, speeding tanker skidded down the highway, knocking down around 10 other vehicles in its path.
One restaurant and some small shops in the vicinity were damaged as leapt out from the tanker.
An hotel Apsara where the tanker went and halted was badly damaged due to the flames.
Teams of firefighters and police rushed to the site for rescue operations as massive traffic snarls blocked both sides of the highway near the Charoti toll post. One side of the highway could be cleared for traffic only by 6 p.m.
Eight injured people were admitted to hospitals.
The bodies and the injured have been taken to the Kasa Primary health centre. Doctors at the centre said that though the dead were identified by their relatives, the bodies may have to be sent for DNA analysis as they are badly charred.
An hotel Apsara where the tanker went and halted was badly damaged due to the flames.
The premises of the Hotel Apsara suffered up to 70 per cent damage due to the fire as the flames from the vehicles parked near the hotel swept up its walls.
The flames from the explosion also damaged a jeep, three Tata Magic taxi vans, three autorickshaws and 10 motorcycles.
Some of the clients who were trapped in the hotel due to the fire were later rescued by the fire personnel. “As it was lunch time, there were many truck drivers and passengers inside the hotel,” said Jadhav.
“Until the fire is completely extinguished, we would not be able to ascertain the number of people stuck inside the burning vehicles, but as of now, seven persons have been confirmed dead,” said an official.
Sunday 23 March 2014
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Seven-burned-alive-as-oil-tanker-explodes-on-Mumbai-Ahmedabad-national-highway/articleshow/32499712.cms
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