KARACHI: A tanker carrying jet fuel detached from its truck, said to be due to some mechanical fault, and overturned on a car at the Baloch Colony flyover, killing the car driver on the spot and leading to closure of both tracks of the road for hours on Thursday, police and rescue services officials said.

DIG Traffic Karachi Ahmed Nawaz Cheema told Dawn that they received information at around 1:30am that a jet fuel tank had detached from its tanker due to some mechanical fault and overturned.

It fell on a car that was passing by and resulted in the death of its driver, who was later identified as Asad Abbas Zaidi.

The incident led to closure of both tracks of the read for the traffic, he said and added that the tanker was carrying 40000 litres of oil from Korangi to the airport and the fuel was to be used for planes.

The DIG said they called a crane but it was difficult to remove the tanker from the car with its help. Therefore, a private heavy crane was called which pulled out the car,” he added.

Mr Cheema said since the driver had escaped, they faced difficulties in ascertaining as to whom the tanker belonged but it was later known that it belonged to Pakistan State Oil (PSO). They approached the PSO at 9am and they sent a technical team and experts.

They arrived at 11am, secured the area and shifted the oil to an empty vehicle with help of ATS (Automobile Track Services) but by the time, 500-600 litres of oil had spilled on the road. After emptying the tank, the tanker was removed and the road was cleared for traffic at around 3:15pm, said DIG Cheema.

He said that oil tankers did not indulge in over-speeding because of strict SOPs and danger to life of the drivers themselves and opined that it was a mechanical fault which caused the accident when the tanker was ascending on the flyover.

Rescue-1122 official Hassaan Khan told Dawn that they received the information of the incident at around 12:50am. Initially, they sent 10 rescue persons along with an urban disaster vehicle. The rescue official added that they faced immense difficulties during the operation. When they reached there, traffic police and district police were not present there to diverge the traffic on alternative routes.

There was a ‘mad’ rush of people, he said, and it was apprehended that it might catch fire and kill people as they were allegedly ‘stealing’ oil.

Meanwhile, a police spokesperson in a statement said that PSO (cartage contractor Arsala Enterprises) registered fuel tanker (PP-0277) which was carrying fuel for the airport overturned on Baloch Colony flyover. DIG Traffic and all stakeholders of recovery like Rescue-1122, ATS Pakistan took part in the rescue operation while traffic was diverted.

Mr Hassaan said there were certain SOPs for transporting hazardous/inflammable material, which were being followed internationally but the tanker allegedly did not fulfil those standards.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar lauded the DIG Traffic and East-SSP for their timely action and secure methods that “saved the public from a huge loss”.

“Protecting the public’s life and property is the requirement and necessity of the police’s duties. You have further promoted Sindh police’s good name by your character and action,” said the minister.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2024