SAHIWAL: An oil tanker carrying 48,000 litres of crude oil overturned on Western Bypass, Lahore-Multan highway in the early hours of Tuesday.

The tanker driver was seriously injured and shifted to the DHQ teaching hospital. Motorway police confirmed that the oil tanker overturned while taking a sharp turn in high speed.

The tanker had overturned just 100 feet from the spot where a cotton bundle-loaded truck had slipped and turned over on Monday night, and was still lying on the spot. Motorway police had failed to move the vehicle from the roadside even after 10 hours had passed since the accident.

Witnesses told Dawn that the moment the truck turned, its container started leaking with crude oil spilling on to the road and into the nearby ground.

Motorway and Ghala Mandi police forces and a Rescue 1122 team rushed to the site. Station house officers Imdad Baloch and Zeeshan along with other personnel cordoned off the surrounding area and diverted traffic to the single road. Later, a heavy crane lifted up the tanker to stop the oil from flowing.

Rescue sources told Dawn that it took five hours to clear the highway.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2021