Chandigarh: At least two people were burnt alive and more than 30 people sustained burn injuries after a blast in an LPG tanker on the Jalandhar-Hoshiarpur Highway near Mandiala village in Punjab, police said on Saturday.
The blast occurred after a collision between the LPG tanker and a pickup truck late on Friday night.
The explosion and subsequent fire in the LPG tanker engulfed shops and residences located along the highway, trapping villagers, many of whom were caught asleep.
According to eyewitnesses, the driver of the pickup succumbed to burn injuries after the vehicle caught fire.
Officials of the district administration rushed to the spot, and fire tenders from Jalandhar, Adampur and Hoshiarpur were pressed into service to douse the fire.
Punjab Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ravjot Singh also visited the spot and hospital to meet the injured. He promised to provide all possible assistance to affected families.
Deputy Commissioner Aashika Jain said an accident between an LPG tanker and a pickup vehicle led to the fire.
“Fire tenders and ambulances were immediately mobilised to the spot, and the fire has largely been brought under control,” she said.
“A detailed assessment of the cause of the accident and the extent of damage will be made once the situation is fully stabilised,” she added.
Civil Hospital Senior Medical Officer Kuldeep Singh said 23 burn victims were admitted on Friday night. Out of them, 15 have been referred to specialty hospitals, including two who have been transferred to a private hospital in Adampur.
He said seven patients remain under treatment at the Civil Hospital in Hoshiarpur.
In the morning, angry residents staged a sit-in protest at the spot. They claimed that they had been demanding that the LPG bottling plant be relocated from their area, but their concerns were not getting redressed, leaving them vulnerable to such incidents.
The police have put up barricades on the National Highway, and vehicular movement has been restricted.
