2 killed, 9 injured as chemical tanker falls on slums

Two persons were today killed and nine others injured when a chemical-laden tanker fell from the Mumbra bypass here over hutments in an adjoining slum area.
The tanker, containing Methyl Hexil Nitrate, left from Vadodara in Gujarat and was heading towards the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust when it met with the accident at around 7.45 AM near the Devripada-Atlanta bypass, Regional Disaster Management Cell (RDMC) chief Santosh Kadam said.
The driver was apparently reversing the tanker and did not realise that it was on the edge of the road. As a result, the rear wheel skidded off the road and the driver lost control of the vehicle, he said.

The weight of the chemical-laden container tore open the concrete barrier wall, built to prevent such accidents, and came hurtling down nearly 150-200 ft on the hutments, severely injuring its residents, Kadam said.
The rescue work continued for six hours to extricate those trapped in the hutments, involving efforts of more than 40 employees of the RDMC and fire brigade, while two giant cranes and fire brigade vehicles were also pressed into service, he said.
The deceased were identified as Madhavi Prabhakar Halde (15) and Hari Bhiku Chouhan (35), RDMC said.

The injured were rushed to a nearby municipal hospital.

Locals demanded authorities to implement speed restrictions and monitoring of seedy vehicles. They also demanded that a safety wall be put up as residents living near the Mumbra bypass, where several accidents have taken place.
A case has been registered against the tanker driver, Manilal Pal, under sections 279 (rash driving) and 304(a) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of Indian Penal Code at the Mumbra police station, a police official said.