Tanker crash ties up traffic in north Bangkok

A tanker trailer-truck containing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) crashed and tilted early yesterday morning at a major elevated junction in Pathum Thani, causing heavy traffic congestion across northern Bangkok before being finally sorted out without damage.

During the eight-hour period beginning at 5 am, residents in a 200-metre radius of the scene had been instructed not to cause any fire, switch on lights or cook for fear that electrical sparks or smoke could cause an explosion.

White LPG fumes leaked from the tank until 11.30 am, when PTT safety experts arrived with two empty tankers and three crane trucks. They closed a valve and shut off the LPG in the truck's tank. The truck, belonging to Premruethai Petroleum, was at half full capacity when the gas was offloaded from its tank to the two trucks. Traffic flow was restored at 1pm.

Before the PTT experts arrived, water from fire trucks was poured on the valve and around the scene in an effort to minimise the risk of explosion, while many attempts by non-experts to close the valve had failed.

The accident prompted closure of traffic from all road networks north of Bangkok adjacent to the junction, causing heavy congestion stretching into 10-km bumper-to-bumper gridlock in all directions.

An eyewitness said the 18-wheel truck was travelling down a ramp at the junction at high speed, before it swerved and tilted. The driver later emerged from the wreck and stood for a while, before walking away. Saran Rangkharisi, a senior PTT official, said the truck hit a wall, prompting a valve to open and leak.

An inspection into the valve’s functionality is underway, to determine why it opened after the impact, and whether the crash resulted from slippery surface or error by the driver, who has not yet been identified. He has been charged with causing damage through carelessness.