11 dead, over 35 injured in fire after LPG tanker crashes

Jaipur : An LPG tanker collided with a truck on Friday, sparking a massive fireball that turned a stretch of the Jaipur-Ajmer highway into an inferno in which 11 people were killed and 37 vehicles engulfed in flames. The state health minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar said nearly half of the injured were "very critical."

"A total of 11 people have died. Five were brought dead to SMS hospital. Five succumbed during treatment. One death was reported from Jaipuria hospital," Dr Deepak Maheshwari, Principal, SMS Medical College, said. Jaipur Police Commissioner Biju George Joseph, who was at the crash site, said an outlet nozzle of the LPG tanker was damaged in the collision, leading to a gas leak that caused the blaze. The crash occurred around 5.30 am, when it was still dark, in front of a school, according to authorities. "Vehicles behind the tanker were engulfed in flames. Other vehicles coming from the opposite directions also caught fire and vehicles collided," Joseph said.

The gas leak spread the fire in a flash, leaving no scope for those in near-by vehicles to come out. People were seen rushing and taking off clothes engulfed in flames. The injured were rushed to the SMS hospital in Jaipur in more than 25 ambulances. Forty-three people were brought to the hospital, seven of whom are on ventilator support, Dr Maheshwawri said. The Rajasthan government announced assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh for the injured. President Droupadi Murmu, PM Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Rajasthan Governor Haribhau Bagade, Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and his predecessor Ashok Gehlot expressed grief over the deaths.

In a post on X, Modi announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured.