Panic as LPG tanker overturns

• Collector orders holiday for schools as well as closure of shops in its vicinity

Vizianagaram: A state of emergency was declared in the vicinity of R&B Guest House in the town in the early hours of Tuesday and all the shops within a kilometer radius were ordered to shut down. The traffic CI Ammi Naidu sensing danger has alerted the officials of various departments. The district collector declared holiday to all the nine schools situated in the area. Fire tenders were called to take over the area. The movement of any traffic was banned from high road to collector’s bungalow. The traffic from here to Bobbili was diverted.

The reason behind the precautions was an LPG tanker which turned upside down at the guest house while negotiating the curve at 2. 15 am on Tuesday. The tanker was coming from Visakhapatnam to Raipur. Immediately after the mishap, the driver and cleaner of the tanker took to heels. The owner of the tanker at Baroda was informed about the mishap.

Though the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) officials were informed at 6 am, the technicians reached the place of mishap only by noon. By that time, the police had already arranged three cranes one with a capacity of 14 tonnes, and two with capacity of 12 tonnes. However, the capacity of these cranes was not sufficient to lift the 38-tonne LPG tanker. Another crane with a capacity of 40 tonnes was brought from Visakhapatnam by evening five o’ clock. The heavy crane lifted the LPG tanker in the presence of police and IOC officials much to the relief of the people of the town.