On Friday, an LPG tanker collided with a truck, sparking a massive fire that turned a stretch of the Jaipur-Ajmer highway into an inferno in which 13 people were killed and 37 vehicles engulfed in flames. An official said, “Twenty-eight people are admitted and many of them are in critical condition”. Dr Deepak Maheshwari, Principal, SMS Medical College, said, “A total of 11 people have died. Five were brought dead to SMS hospital. Five succumbed during treatment. One death was reported from Jaipuria hospital”.
He said that 27 people are admitted in SMS hospital and one is undergoing treatment at a private hospital. The highway was reopened in the night after all vehicles were removed. Jaipur Police Commissioner Biju George Joseph, who was at the crash site, said an outlet nozzle of the LPG tanker was damaged in the collision, leading to a gas leak that caused the blaze.
According to authorities, the crash occurred around 5.30 am, when it was still dark, in front of a school, according to authorities. “Vehicles behind the tanker were engulfed in flames. Other vehicles coming from the opposite directions also caught fire and the vehicles collided,” Joseph said. The gas leak spread the fire in a flash, leaving no scope for those in nearby vehicles to come out. People were seen rushing and taking off clothes engulfed in flames.
The injured were rushed to the SMS hospital in Jaipur in more than 25 ambulances. Forty-three people were brought to the hospital, seven of whom are on ventilator support, Dr Maheshwawri said. Some people with minor injuries left the hospital after dressing. Officials at the spot indicated that the casualty count may go up.
The Rajasthan government announced an assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh for the injured. President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi , Union Home Minister Amit Shah , Rajasthan Governor Haribhau Bagade, Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and his predecessor Ashok Gehlot expressed grief over the deaths. In a post on X, Modi announced an ex gratia sum of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured.
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