Jaipur: Eleven people were burnt alive and more than 35 others injured in a major fire incident on the Jaipur-Ajmer national highway here on Friday morning after a truck loaded with a chemical collided with some other vehicles. Officials said the fire soon engulfed other vehicles on the highway resulting in mayhem as charred bodies kept piling on the road and firefighters struggled to douse the fire and rescuers rushed to retrieve bodies stuck in vehicles. The death toll is expected to rise further, officials said. The incident also left 40 vehicles gutted, a top official said.
Jaipur district magistrate, Jitendra Soni said according to preliminary information, a truck that hit the other vehicles was loaded with a chemical. He said the incident occurred in front of a petrol pump. Fire brigades are at the spot, trying to bring the blaze under control. The traffic on the highway has been stopped.
Giving further details, station house officer (SHO), Bhankrota, Manish Gupta said, "The fire has engulfed several trucks. Several people with burn injuries have been rushed to hospitals in ambulances." After the fire incident, loud explosions created an atmosphere of panic in the area. Flames and smoke were visible all around. One after the other, dozens of vehicles were engulfed by the fire. Many small and big vehicles also caught fire in the accident.
Firefighters teams with about two dozen fire engines rushed to douse the fire. At the same time, many police officers including DCP West Amit Kumar Budania and other officials from a number of police stations also rushed to the spot. According to DCP West Amit Kumar Budania, a CNG vehicle parked near a petrol pump caught fire with a blast after colliding with a chemical-laden truck on the Ajmer Highway under the Bhankrota police station area limits. "About a dozen patients have been admitted to the emergency of Sawai Man Singh Hospital for treatment. The razing fire engulfed a part of the petrol pump, resulting in chaos," Budania said.
Police contingents from Bhankrota, Bindayaka, Bagru, Chitrakoot, Vaishali Nagar, Karni Vihar, Kardhani and other places have been deployed on the spot. Traffic on the highway has been diverted. A pipe factory on the side of the highway was also burnt to ashes in the incident. The police closed the traffic on the highway.
Eyewitnesses recall the horror
Sunil, a youth travelling to Jaipur from Rajsamand with his friend in a bus, said he heard a loud explosion. When Sunil looked out of the bus' window, he saw fire all around. Sunil said the door of his bus was locked after the explosion and he and the other passengers broke the window glass to jump out of the vehicle. Other eyewitnesses said around eight to nine people managed to come out of the bus but several remained trapped. Sunil said a few passengers in his bus might have also died in the mishap. According to Jagdish, who was on the same bus, the incident occurred at around 5:30 am. He said those could jump out of the bus saved themselves. All vehicles within a radius of 200 metre of the explosion were gutted in the mishap. As eyewitnesses shot videos and clicked photographs of the accident site on their mobile, a man was seen emerging from the fire. The man whose clothes were burnt described the mishap.
Moti Singh, a petrol pump employee, said, "This accident happened around 5 a.m. when I was calculating accounts. We had a switch on and off, and suddenly, we saw all the trucks were burning. There was a Naira pump in front of us, and it also caught fire. We controlled the fire here using a cylinder. "At that moment, as far as we could see, the fire was spreading. Many vehicles that arrived had already caught fire, but we managed to contain it at our site," he added.
Around 50 vehicles burnt to ashes
The severity of the Bhankrota incident can be gauged from the fact that the fire engulfed vehicles parked within a radius of 200 to 250 metres of the explosion. As per reports, 29 trucks, three buses, over 15 small vehicles and an auto rickshaw were gutted. This apart, around half a dozen two-wheelers were reduced to ashes. The mishap caused a huge traffic jam on Ajmer Road.
12 injured admitted to ICU
Dr Deepak Maheshwari, Principal of Sawai Mansingh Medical College said a total of 45 people were admitted to the hospital till 11 am. While seven people died, 12 are undergoing treatment at the ICU with more than 60% burns. Police department and medical officers are handling the situation on the spot.
CM's reaction
The incident evoked reactions from Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanalal Sharma, who expressed grief on X. He wrote, "I am deeply saddened to hear the tragic news of civilian casualties in the gas tanker fire incident on Jaipur-Ajmer national highway. On receiving the information of the incident, I went to SMS Hospital and directed the doctors to provide necessary medical facilities immediately and take proper care of the injured. The rescue work by the administration is continuing unabated.
Minister of State for Home Affairs Jawahar Singh said immediately after the accident, the Health Minister set up a separate burn ward for treatment of the injured at SMS Hospital. This apart, a helpline was set up for assisting the victims' families. Terming the incident sad and unfortunate, Singh said a probe would be conducted. Singh said he talked to eyewitnesses who said a trailer was taking a turn in front of DPS from Ajmer Road when a tanker hit it from behind. The tanker and the trailer caught fire after the collision. The local administration and emergency services are working with full readiness.
Deputy CM Prem Chand Bairwa, who also rushed to the spot, said, "It is a tragic incident. We are saddened by the death of 4-5 people. Around 39 people are admitted to SMS Hospital. The CM has visited the hospital...I am here reviewing the incident spot."