National Times Bureau :- An LPG cylinders laden truck exploded and caught fire after a collision with a tanker on the Jaipur-Ajmer highway on Tuesday night, police said.
The accident took place in the Maujmabad region, emanating a thick plume of smoke into the sky. According to police, a tanker rammed into the stationary LPG-laden truck from behind.
The truck, which had reportedly stopped illegally outside a roadside hotel while the driver went for a meal and was trying to make a turn at a no-entry point, exploded upon impact. The collision triggered a massive fireball, followed by multiple blasts as gas cylinders caught fire one after another. Traffic on both sides of the Jaipur–Ajmer Highway came to a standstill as emergency teams rushed to the spot. Several fire engines from Dudu, Bagru, and Kishangarh are battling the flames, while police have sealed off the area. Senior officials, including Jaipur IG Rahul Prakash, are supervising the rescue and relief efforts.
According to preliminary information, two to three people, including the tanker driver, sustained injuries. CMHO Jaipur-I, Dr. Ravi Shekhawat, confirmed that the injured driver received first aid at a local hospital in Dudu, and no patients have been shifted to SMS Hospital in Jaipur yet. Deputy Chief Minister Prem Chand Bairwa, who visited the site on Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma’s instructions, said the situation is now under control.
“No casualties have been reported so far,” he stated, adding that the drivers and cleaners of the vehicles involved are currently untraceable. Police and district authorities are conducting a search operation.
The incident has evoked memories of a similar disaster that took place ten months ago in Bhankrota, where a gas tanker explosion on the same highway claimed 19 lives.
