Bantwal: LPG tanker fire - A nightmare survivors want to forget
Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network – Bantwal (SP)
Bantwal, Apr 10: Tuesday April 9 was a black day for the people of Dakshina Kannada district. Those who witnessed the tragedy at Perne want to forget the deafening blasts, flames which spread at unimaginable speed, cries of help, charred and half-burnt bodies, thick smoke, and the smouldering debris that changed the lives of several families forever.
A garage, two shops, eight houses, LPG tanker, a Maruti Omni van, a Tata 407 vehicle, a scooter, a motor bike and a M-80 two-wheeler were reduced to ashes in the accident, while Sunil (16), son of Seetharam from Perne, Guruvappa (30), a tailor by profession, Vanitha (38), wife of Narayan, her son, Cheetesh (5), Shobha Rai (40), wife of Shankar Rai, Khateejamma, wife of Muhammed, Vasant from Soorikumeru in Bantwal, and tanker driver, Selvarasan (35) from Tamil Nadu, lost their lives in the incident. Vasant, driver of the Maruti Omni vehicle, was following the vehicle, but his clothes were burning when he leapt out and ran away seeking help. But he died in a hospital later. It is learnt that he had married just six months back.
Shobha Rai
Survivors, Indira, anganwadi worker, Vimala, Safiya, and Asma, all from Perne, are being treated at hospitals in Mangalore and Puttur for their burns.
It is believed that friction caused by the neck of the tanker brushing against the road after it overturned, generated the sparks, and LPG leaking from the tanker was ignited by these sparks. The flames spread very fast, and maximum damage was inflicted within the first few minutes, it is gathered. The hillocks, plantations, houses, other buildings, trees etc have burnt down at Perne, and the entire village wears a scalded look.
Shops belonging to Ummarabba and Ismail, houses owned by Ismail, Sundar Rai, Narayan Naik, Abubakker and Muhammed, as well as a garage belonging to Sundar Rai were gutted in the fire.
Vittal deputy tahsildar, and Perne villae accountant, visited the spot to evaluate the losses. As per one account, the loss in the accident has been estimated at eighty lac rupees.
People inside or near the site tried to flee, but some were not lucky enough to escape. Children who were out in the schools, and those who had ventured out of their houses for various purposes, were saved. Out of the eight victims, Vasant and Khateejamma died in hospitals. Rider of M-80 vehicle, Kumar from Tamin Nadu, escaped by a whisker, by scampering to safety before flames could consume him. Shobha, who was washing clothes in her backyard, ran up the adjacent hillock after seeing the flames rushing towards her. But she slipped while doing so, and the flames reached her before she could get up.
A few cylinders in nearby houses exploded because of the heat, inflicting further loss of lives and property. Several cylinders could be brought out and moved to safe distances, with the help of people, before they too posed danger.
Gas tankers have played a villainy role in Sundar Rai’s life. Sundar Rai’s brother and sister had married in a hall at Uppinangady on August 15, 1998. The ambassador car by which the marriage party was returning to Perne was hit by a gas tanker at Nekkilady village on that day. In that accident, Rai had lost his mother and the sister of the bride. In the present accident, Rai lost his wife as well as his house and garage.
The accident is the second major disaster to have hit the district, after the Air India Express flight’s crash at Mangalore airport on May 22, 2010. The lives of the survivors of the present disaster as well as those who have lost their close ones have undergone unimaginable change at one go. Successive accidents involving gas tankers do not seem to have succeeded in making the concerned to wake up to the need for taking more safety precautions and to keep ready teams which can handle such situations effectively on a war footing within minutes.
Only time will tell whether the government machinery and officials of the companies involved will learn any lessons out of this disaster and initiate prudent steps to stop loss of lives and property on account of faulty driving by one person, or mechanical defect in one vehicle. Human lives are invaluable, and one hopes that cost factor will not deter the concerned from taking safety measures because of the cost factor.