Trucker dies as oil tanker falls off Mumbai-Ahmedabad bridge

A 30yearold driver Ashish Kumar Yadav lost his life in a freak accident when the crude oilfilled tanker he was driving plunged off the Manor Bridge Manor is 60km north of Borivli on the MumbaiAhmedabad highway on Sunday The oil tanker fell from a 25foothigh bridge breaking on impact The force of the crash caused significant structural damage leading to a major fuel spillYadav the sole breadwinner of his family had married just last November said his uncle Vishwa Vijay Yaduvanshi ldquoHe was a responsible member of our home He last visited in November for his wedding He is survived by his parents two sisters and a younger brotherrdquo he addedThe CCTV footage shows people running for cover as the truck falls off the bridgeHis cousin Dilip Yadav also a driver was the first to reach the accident site ldquoAshish and I had left Nhava Sheva together for Silvassa He was slightly ahead When I reached the accident site I slowed down and was shocked His mobile phone was completely damaged but the ambulance driver removed the SIM card and inserted it into another handset Since I had been trying desperately to call Ashish the driver answered and told me to come to the hospitalmdashwhere I learned that he was no more Now I am taking his mortal remains to our hometown in Pratapgarhrdquo sobbed Dilip while speaking to middayThe fully loaded oil tanker came crashing down after breaking through the bridgersquos safety wall CCTV footage captured the chaos showing people running for safety as the tanker smashed through the barrierlsquoWe saw the tanker fallingrsquoldquoI was there when it happened Everyone was busy with their work when we suddenly heard a loud crash Before we could react we saw the tanker falling off the bridgerdquo said Ravi Padekar a local vegetable vendor ldquoThe rear hit the ground first with a loud thud before it toppled onto the driverrsquos side trapping him insiderdquoThe damaged truck right The spot where the truck fell fromPadekar added ldquoThe rear of the tanker was mangled causing a massive fuel spill which then caught fire We rushed to douse the flames with buckets of water but the crude oil was spilling rapidly We finally connected a pipe from a nearby hotel and managed to put out the fire By the time the police fire engines and ambulance arrived the driver had already succumbed to his injuriesrdquoThankfully no passersby were injured but the oil spill made the road hazardous for other vehicles The situation worsened when the tanker caught fire due to sparks igniting the spilt fuel ldquoThankfully a passing water tanker helped douse the firerdquo said an eyewitnesslsquoAdjust height of safety wallsrsquoHarbans Singh Nanade spokesperson of the All India Vahan Chalak Malak Mahasangha told midday that the height of side protection walls needs to be adjusted to match the new lane elevation due to ongoing whitetopping work on the MumbaiAhmedabad highwayldquoThe bridge curves to the right and Yadav who was driving in the right lane somehow veered left before crashing through the steel railing The tanker fell from a height of 25 feet hitting the ground tailfirst which caused the explosion and massive spillrdquo Nanade explainedHe warned that ongoing whitetopping work has raised the height of the lanes on flyovers making the existing safety walls less effective ldquoIf the walls arenrsquot adjusted accordingly they may not prevent heavy vehicles from toppling over increasing the risk of fatal accidentsrdquo he saidWhen asked about the issue Sumit Kumar manager of the National Highways Authority of India NHAI told midday ldquoWe have written to NHAI headquarters in Delhi and a tender will be floated to raise the steel railing height from 200 mm to 300 mmrdquo Kumar added that 96 per cent of NH48rsquos concreting is completePolice book deceased driverSuperintendent of Palghar police Balasaheb Patil said ldquoThe driver lost control of the vehicle and died on the spotrdquo However Manor police have registered an FIR against Yadav for negligent driving ldquoHe has been booked for rash driving causing a fatal accident He was heading to Silvassa from Nhava Sheva portrdquo said Inspector Ranvir Bayes in charge of Manor police stationMeanwhile Patil said authorities will inspect the tanker to determine the exact cause of the accident The massive crude oil spill left the roads dangerously slippery forcing authorities to cordon off the area as crowds gathered to witness the tragedy