SOCIETY: PICK AND DROP BOMBS?
On a foggy January morning, a little high-roof school van went from home to home in Orangi Town, picking up schoolchildren like it did on any other day. It was getting late for school. In a bit of a rush, the van went slightly off road and got one of its tyres stuck in the soft mud. The more the driver tried to accelerate to force the vehicle out, the deeper the wheel got stuck in the ground. The van driver got off the van and went around behind it. Some children also got down, first to make the vehicle lighter but then, when they saw the driver trying to push it, they also placed their little hands on the van to help him and pushed with all their might.
Suddenly the van caught fire.
Some eight children of a total of 14 travelling in the van suffered burns due to the fire. The pictures shared on social media, of small children, aged between seven and 10, receiving medical aid for their burns at a hospital’s emergency caught everyone’s attention.
Are school vans running on CNG or LPG really as dangerous as they say they are?
Initial reports suggested that the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinder fitted in the van had exploded. Later, this claim was dismissed. Investigation into the matter revealed that the fire started due to a short circuit.
Police filed a case against the driver of the van on the complaint of the father of one of the children who was injured in the accident. Despite a city-wide ban on the use of CNG in school vans, it was revealed that the van had two cylinders — an LPG cylinder placed near the driving seat and a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) cylinder at the back. The two cylinders remained intact in the incident. Had they exploded in the fire, it would have been a graver tragedy to bear.
Even though fires in both the vehicle were not caused due to the LPG or CNG cylinder explosions, it is a fact that the cylinders’ placement in the vehicles is not ideal. In the van, the CNG cylinder is usually fitted under the back seat, which is a disaster waiting to happen in case of a collision from behind.
And moving LPG cylinders in vehicles is anyway a safety risk. The pickup trucks, which carry these cylinders for kitchen use also take certain precautions such as keeping them upright and tightly securing them while using plugs for the prest-o-lite or POL valves to make sure there are no leaks. It is not advisable to move around on our bumpy roads with LPG cylinders fitted near the driver’s seat or anywhere inside a vehicle.