Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Gasoline Tanker Rollover on I-95 - No Ignition

 

A TANKER CARRYING 10,000 GALS. OF GASOLINE WAS INVOLVED in a 4-vehicle accident Monday morning that left 10 people injured, at least one critically.  The accident took place on I-95 near Newburyport, Massachusetts, about 300 yards from the bridge over the Merrimack River.

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WCVB

Witnesses say that one of the cars was driving very erratically on the highway causing other vehicles to take evasive actions when he eventually collided with the tanker and two other cars.  The truck rolled over and one of the compartments ruptured with a resulting gasoline leak.  Fortunately there was no ignition of the product.

Boston TV station WFXT had a reporter on the scene file this story at 4 pm:

10 people have been injured, one of them seriously. The seriously injured person has been taken to a Boston hospital by helicopter. All three passengers cars and the Tractor Trailer were going North bound.

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WCVB image by Stan Forman

Right now, there is a command center being set on Laurel Road, which runs parallel to I-95. There are about 6-12 homes on that road being evacuated. There is also an big environmental cleanup going on and the Coast Guard is taking measures to protect the Merrimack River from dangerous chemicals. They are also spraying the foam everywhere because it’s windy and they are afraid of an explosion if there are any sparks.

WXFT also filed these two raw videos taken from their helicopter:

WHDH-TV also filed this video:

At 4:00 pm the gasoline hazard had been mitigated and the tanker uprighted.  The main labor now is the environmental cleanup in progress.  The opposite-travel lanes of the Interstate have been re-opened.

WCVB-TV has a 41-image photo gallery HERE.

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