When fire rained on homes

The accident that led to the truck exploding was the result of speeding,coupled with poor safety measures in both the vehicle and on national highway 17. The divider the truck fell on did not have reflectors,jamming its wheels and separating these,along with the tank,from the rest of the vehicle. The tank rested directly on the wheels,with nothing to cushion such a fall in between,an arrangement that invites disaster,according to a safety expert.

The capsule truck,carrying 17.5 tonnes of LPG,went out of the control of the driver while he was trying to overtake another vehicle while on the way along NH 17 from Mangalore to Indian Oil Corporations bottling plant near Kozhikode.

At Chala,the truck hit the road divider without reflectors. One of its rear wheels got stuck in the divider and the prime mover got separated from the tank,which fell on the concrete block of the divider.

Tanks carrying inflammable material are directly fixed on wheels without a supporting frame,says road safety expert Upendra Narayan,blaming the design,along with the drivers negligence,for the accident. The capsule should ideally have had a protective frame to prevent direct exposure to the road in the event of a mishap such as this. Had there been a frame,the tank would have rested on it,Narayan said,calling for a review of the structural safety of tankers.

Investigating officer P Sukumaran explained what happened after the tanker fell on the road,based on prima facie evidence. The gas,which had been filled under high pressure,began to leak even as the driver fled for his life. He asked whomever he met to stay as far away from the vehicle as possible. After 20 minutes came the first of three explosions.

Rajagopal,who runs a shop in the vicinity,said the magnitude of the tragedy would have been much higher had people not reacted to the drivers warning and fled and had vehicular traffic not been suspended immediately. However,20 minutes wasnt enough to evacuate everyone who was indoors.

As the balls of fire spread up to half a kilometres all around,K Sreelatha ran towards a temple to alert her husband,Keshava Marar. She was swallowed in the rushing flames and Marar found her on his way home. And Abdul Azeez,who was bedridden,had no means to escape.

As the gas already released lapped up the flames,two further explosions followed and sent a piece from the tank flying; it landed 400 metres away. All the greenery in the region went up in flames,which were visible from as far as 2km away.

Apart from killing or injuring 41 persons,the flames gutted 26 houses and 23 shops. Many of the victims were taken out of their homes by rescue workers who doused the fire.

The investigating officer said the divider has caused accidents involving tanker trucks,but the NH authorities have not taken care to install reflectors. The negligence of highway authorities and the Indian Oil Corporation will come under the purview of investigation,he said.

The driver,Kannayya,who surrendered two days ago,has said that had not noticed the divider,which starts on the road after a curve. How the tanker caught fire is still under probe,the police said. The state government has ordered demolition of the divider.

Five days later,the gutted remains of houses and shops remain a stark reminder in Chala,6 km from Kannur town. News of one death after another has been reaching the survivors,who on the first day had lost two. Two families have by now lost four members each. Another three families have lost two each.