New Delhi:

Visuals have emerged giving a bird’s-eye view of the devastation wrought by the collision between a truck, gas tanker and several other vehicles in Rajasthan. At least 12 people were killed and 40 injured, 28 of whom are critical. 

The video shows charred hunks of metal left behind of what were once functioning vehicles. Several fire engines can be seen and the footage makes it clear that a large section of the road – approximately 300 metres – was affected, as were areas in the immediate vicinity. Bulldozers can also be seen trying to clear the wreckage so that the road can be used for traffic again. 

A CNG tanker parked near a petrol pump had caught fire after a truck collided with it and several other vehicles at Ajmer Road in Jaipur on Friday morning. The CNG tanker sprung a leak after the collision and an explosion followed. The fire spread quickly to other vehicles, including cars and a bus, leaving people with no time to react. 

Witnesses told NDTV that passengers on a bus that caught fire were trapped after the exit doors got jammed. People standing on the side of the road or waiting in parked vehicles also suffered burn injuries and a small building close to the road was engulfed by fire.

Flames from the inferno could be seen nearly a kilometre away. 

“I was going to Vishwakarma Industrial Area with my truck from Bagru at around 5 am to load some goods. It was very cold and I was going at a normal speed. At one point, about 200 metres ahead, I saw a cloud of smoke, high up in the sky,” truck driver Sumer Singh told news agency PTI.

“It felt as if I could see hell in front of me. I steered the truck left, jumped out and ran. When I finally looked back, I could see nothing but fire,” he said.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma and Health Minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar visited the Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital, where many of the injured were being treated. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his condolences and announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the families of those killed and Rs 50,000 for the injured. 

“Deeply saddened by the loss of lives in the accident on Jaipur-Ajmer highway in Rajasthan. Condolences to those who lost their loved ones. May the injured recover soon. The local administration is assisting those affected,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.

Udaipur:

A private bus destoyed in fire on the Ajmer-Jaipur highway on Friday had no permit, an official from the Regional Transport Office said.

The sleeper bus was among 37 vehicles destroyed in the massive fire on Friday morning.

Udaipur RTO Nemichand Pareek said the department had contacted the bus owner following the incident to obtain a list of passengers.

“Abdul Salman Khan, the operator of Lake City Travel Bus, was contacted and the list of passengers travelling in that bus was obtained,” he said.

“Meanwhile, it came to light that the fitness and road tax of the bus was complete but there was no permit,” he said.

Bus driver Shahid, a resident of Khanjipir, Udaipur, was injured in the fire. Its conductor Kalu, a resident of Chittorgarh, could not be contacted.

“We talked to 24 passengers. Some passengers could not be contacted. Our team and the bus operator are in constant touch,” Pareek said.

Eleven people died, while more than 35 suffered burns on Friday when an LPG tanker collided with a truck, sparking a huge fire that turned a stretch of the Jaipur-Ajmer highway into an inferno.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Jaipur:

With a desperate lurch to the left, trucker Sumer Singh dodged death on the Jaipur-Ajmer Highway, where a massive ball of fire waited for him. He got away with some burns, but many were not so lucky.

Sumer Singh, 40, was on his way towards Vishwakarma Industrial Area like any other day when suddenly a scene straight from hell appeared before his eyes.

To prevent driving straight into the fire, Sumer Singh, without wasting a moment sent his truck off the road with a lurch to the left, jumped off it as soon as it stopped, and ran for his life.

Sumer Singh survived but his truck was completely burnt.

Eleven people died, while more than 35 suffered burns on Friday when an LPG tanker collided with a truck, sparking a huge fire that turned a stretch of the Jaipur-Ajmer highway into an inferno.

The accident that happened around 5 am caused the truck to leak gas, setting an around 300 metres stretch of road ablaze, and trapping at least 37 vehicles in its flames.

The vehicles included two buses and as many cars but most of them were trucks, trailers and containers.

The fire was so severe that the water tenders struggled to reach the burning vehicles for a long time.

Some of the trucks were parked along the highway with their drivers and cleaners sleeping inside.

One of the vehicles that caught fire was a private sleeper bus, on its way to Jaipur coming from Udaipur. As fire engulfed the bus, passengers struggled to get out.

“I was going to Vishwakarma Industrial Area with my truck from Bagru at around 5 am to load some goods. It was very cold and I was going at a normal speed. At one point, about 200 metres ahead, I saw a cloud of smoke, high up in the sky,” Singh, who still couldn’t believe what struck him, told PTI.

“It felt as if hell was in front of me. I veered the truck completely to the left, jumped out and ran. When I looked back from afar, I could see nothing but fire,” he said.

“I do not even know how I managed to run so fast at this age. When I returned to the truck, I saw many vehicles had caught fire by then. People shouted for help. Nobody knew what had happened. Suddenly, a man came out from the flames. He had no clothes on his body and it was burnt. We had no means to help him,” he said.

According to Sumer Singh, most of the people struck by the tragedy were truck drivers and helpers and bus passengers.

“After some time, the fire brigade and ambulance arrived with sirens blaring. They first found it difficult to navigate through the fire. After some time, when the sunlight came, we found not a single vehicle was left intact. There were only burnt vehicles all along the highway,” he said.

Bablu Gujar, 21, a student, suffered 15 per cent burns.

His brother on his way from Gujarat, said, “I was informed that my brother had been injured in the fire. I do not know where he was going and how he got trapped there. I am travelling to Jaipur now.” Faizan, 20, from Udaipur, had left for Jaipur for some work on a bus last night. He received 50 per cent burns.

“The bus was about to reach Jaipur. I was expecting a call from him that he had reached but a call from the hospital shook us,” Saleem, his father, said.

Faizan’s family members, who reached the accident spot, struggled to locate him in the violent chaos the fire had left in its wake.

According to authorities, most of the victims were male, many of whom in a critical state.

A school van driver told PTI that the flames were visible from a kilometre away and the highway was a scene of chaos.

“As I got closer to the spot, I saw people scrambling to save them and shouting for help. I saw a man engulfed in flames. It was frightening,” he said.

All doctors and nursing staff were called from their homes at Sawai Man Singh Hospital to cater to the wounded.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and Health Minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar reached Sawai Man Singh Hospital to oversee the operations.

“The hospital authorities have prepared another ward to accommodate the victims. Other surgeons were also called to help the team of plastic surgery doctors,” Dr Deepak Maheshwari, principal, SMS Medical College, said.

Another official said many people were brought to the hospital in a terrible state.

“Some bones were also brought. This was unprecedented. Many people flinched at the sight,” he said.

As soon as the news spread, politicians from both ruling and opposition parties started visiting the hospital.

Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani, ministers Rajyavardhan Rathore, Kirodi Lal Meena, state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra and several MLAs were some of them.

The fear of an infection made the hospital administration bar people from going inside the ICU and other wards.

A team from the district administration was deployed to the hospital to help people contact the relatives of the victims and locate the missing.

Helpline numbers have also been issued. Those who were in a position to talk were asked for the numbers of their family members.

The owner of a private travel bus on the way to Jaipur was contacted and the list of passengers was sought from him.

The incident made fresh memories of another fire that broke out in the IOC oil depot in Sitapura, nearly 16 km from the city, in 2009. The blaze killed about a dozen people and burned around 300 more.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Jaipur:

At least six persons were killed in a massive fire that broke out following a truck collision outside a petrol pump in Rajasthan’s Jaipur this morning. The incident took place around 5:30 am on Ajmer Road when a CNG tanker parked near the petrol pump caught fire after a truck collided with other vehicles.

According to officials, several more people are feared dead, while 35 others have been injured. Several victims are in a critical condition, officials added.

At present, efforts are being made to extinguish the fire which has engulfed several vehicles parked nearby.

The victims are being taken to a hospital and rescue operations are underway.

The explosion was so intense that several vehicles within a 300-meter radius were engulfed and completely burned, reported news agency IANS. Several drivers were reportedly burned in the incident, with some in critical condition. Visuals of the incident show a massive blaze and a cloud of black smoke above it – which can be seen from several kilometers away.

According to locals, the explosion was heard up to 10 kilometers away. Reportedly, there were also repeated explosions as many of the fuel tanks burst.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the truck that hit the other vehicles was reportedly loaded with a chemical.

“The fire has engulfed several trucks. The number of trucks involved in the incident is not clear. Some people with burn injuries have been rushed to hospitals in ambulances,” Station House Officer (SHO), Bhankrota, Manish Gupta told news agency PTI.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma has reached the hospital to meet the victims and expressed condolences on the loss of lives in the incident.

“I am deeply saddened to hear the sad news of casualties of citizens in the gas tanker fire incident on Jaipur-Ajmer National Highway. As soon as the information about the incident was received, the Chief Minister went to SMS Hospital and directed the doctors to provide immediate necessary medical facilities and take proper care of the injured. Rescue work by the administration is underway,” the Chief Minister said in a post on X.

“The local administration and emergency services are working with full readiness. I pray to God to grant the departed souls a place in his supreme abode, give the bereaved families strength to bear this immense loss, and provide speedy recovery to the injured,” he added.

जयपुर-अजमेर राष्ट्रीय राजमार्ग पर गैस टैंकर में आग लगने की घटना में नागरिकों के हताहत होने का दुःखद समाचार सुनकर मन अत्यंत व्यथित है।

घटना की सूचना मिलते ही एसएमएस अस्पताल जाकर चिकित्सकों को तत्काल आवश्यक चिकित्सा सुविधाएं उपलब्ध कराने एवं घायलों की समुचित देखभाल हेतु निर्देशित… pic.twitter.com/bIpNI7xT7y

— Bhajanlal Sharma (@BhajanlalBjp) December 20, 2024

In another incident earlier this week, drivers of two trucks died after their vehicles caught fire following a collision in Rajasthan’s Nagaur district. The traffic on the highway was halted till the fire was doused, officials said.