KARACHI: At least one person was killed as an oil tanker crashed on the Baloch Colony bridge in Karachi in the wee hours of Thursday, creating hours long traffic disruption.
The incident has affected traffic on multiple arteries including Korangi Road, Sharea Faisal and Shahrah-e-Quaideen as the authorities are yet to remove the heavy vehicle from the flyover, which has been there for hours now.
The car driver, identified as Asad, who got crushed under the tanker, died on the spot. His vehicle was removed by a crane after three hours.
The rescue officials said the tanker overturned due to overloading and detaching of its engine.
Even after several hours, the authorities failed to remove the tanker from the road as a fire brigade official said they could not lift it as long as the oil was completely drained. Meanwhile, plethora of people have started collecting oil spilling from the unfortunate vehicle.
Deputy Inspector General Traffic Karachi Ahmed Nawaz Cheema said the tanker, carrying 60,000 litres of jet fuel, was going towards the airport area. He said all four compartments were full of fuel, out of which 600 litres of oil had spilt on the road.
Additionally, Cheema advised citizens to stay away from the tanker as jet fuel is highly flammable. He also said additional force was deployed to keep people away from the vehicle.
The DIG traffic police said the company concerned had been contacted and it had assured to bring suction pumps as the tanker could not be moved until it was emptied.
The Baloch Colony Flyover has been closed and the traffic diverted towards other routes.
The vehicles travelling from Shaheed-e-Millat Road has been diverted from Bohri Cut towards Sharea Faisal, traffic coming from Korangi via Jam Sadiq Bridge has been diverted towards Akhtar Colony from a U-turn, and the vehicles going towards Korangi from the Baloch Colony bridge are being sent towards the FTC Chowrangi.
