KARACHI: An oil tanker crashed and burst into flames early Wednesday morning on Gul Bai Flyover in Karachi’s Sher Shah Colony, engulfing a part of the bridge in thick black smoke as fire brigades worked to extinguish the blaze.
The incident led to authorities sealing the entry and exit points to the bridge. No casualties were reported.
Fuel from the overturned vehicle started leaking and the blaze spread to the nearby cars and a godown. Witnesses said passersby tried to put out the flames by throwing sand on the burning fuel.
Seven fire brigades and two fire tenders of the Pakistan Air Force rushed to the site of the crash to put out the blaze.
As media reporters arrived on the scene, they found that there were, in fact, two tankers at the crash site. It emerged that one of the tankers was attempting to overtake and lost control after doing so, finally hitting the mid-road barrier and flipping over. The second oil tanker was headed from Native Jetty to Sher Shah Colony.
The fire was so intense — said to be Category 3 — that the smoke billowing from the site of the crash could be seen from as far away as I.I. Chundrigar Road.
Most of the bridge, which is almost four-kilometre long, was covered in the fuel that leaked out of the oil tanker and made the road slippery.
Both the drivers fled.
The blaze also managed to spread to two shops situated under the Gul Bai Flyover.
