A fuel tanker has tipped over on the Kushtia-Ishwardi highway and blocked the road for more than 24 hours, leading to painstaking waits for passengers travelling southwest and north of Bangladesh.
A technical team sidelined their plans to solve the situation over fears that it may explode “at any time”, so uncertainty looms over the rescue of the tanker, reports bdnews24.com.
The tanker toppled over around 3:00 pm on Sunday near Mirpur Bahalbaria area in Kushtia, OC Idris Ali of Chourahas Highway Police said.
Authorities are yet to figure out how it happened.
The 10-wheeler was travelling from Mongla Port to Natore carrying almost 17 tonnes of LPG. It is lying across the road horizontally, causing a blockade for both sides of the street, Idris said.
“It was not possible to remove the tanker due to it being extremely risky.”
Authorities sought assistance from the engineers at Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant. They arrived at the scene, observed the situation and retreated not carrying out the tanker’s retrieval.
“So we’ve not been able to untangle the traffic jam for over 24 hours,” the police officer said.
Fire crews, local administration and the highway police are trying to push the tanker to the side of the road at the moment to free the road, said Md Jan-e-Alam, assistant director of Kushtia Fire Service and Civil Defence.
It’s uncertain how much time it will take, he added.
“We need two heavy cranes for the tanker and the necessary technical equipment to remove the fuel as it’s too risky.”
The administration is pressing the owners to take swift steps, he said.
