HIGHWAY TURNS INTO HELLFIRE!

Jaipur: An LPG tanker collided with a truck on Friday, sparking a massive fireball that turned a stretch of Jaipur-Ajmer highway into an inferno in which at least 12 people were killed and nearly 40 vehicles engulfed in flames. Of about 35 people injured, nearly half are ‘very critical’, Rajasthan Health Minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar said.

Jaipur Police Commissioner Biju George Joseph, who was at the crash site with several officers of his department, said an outlet nozzle of the LPG tanker was damaged in the collision, leading to a gas leak that caused blaze.

The crash occurred around 5.45 am, when it was still dark, in front of a school, according to officials. “Vehicles behind the tanker were engulfed in flames. Other vehicles coming from the opposite directions also caught fire and the vehicles collided,” he said. The gas leak also spread fire in a flash, leaving no scope for those in nearby vehicles to come out. While addressing media, CM Sharma described accident as deeply saddening. He assured that State Govt would conduct a thorough investigation into the matter. Earlier in the day, CM Bhajan Lal Sharma also visited SMS Hospital to check on the injured.