Tanker carrying formaldehyde overturns, forcing closure of North-South Expressway at Ipoh

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Hazmat (Hazardous Materials) Unit team members checking on the overturned tanker lorry transporting industrial chemical believed to contain formaldehyde. — Bernama photo

IPOH: A tanker lorry transporting industrial chemical believed to contain formaldehyde overturned and sprang a leak on a south-bound lane of the North-South Expressway here, forcing temporary closure of the highway at that stretch.

Ipoh Fire and Rescue Station chief P Sumasivam said two cars collided into the overturned tanker and four people, one of them the lorry driver, were injured in the accident at Km269.8, some three kilometres from the Jelapang toll plaza, of the highway at 7.20am.

He said traffic was diverted to the federal road as the stretch of the highway was expected to remain closed until 1pm yesterday as a Hazmat (Hazardous Materials) Unit team from the Pasir Puteh Fire and Rescue Station cleaned up the spot.

Sumasivam said the lorry was carrying 23 tonnes of industrial chemical from Prai, Penang, to Kuantan when the accident happened.

The injured people were sent to the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital, he told reporters at the scene.

Ipoh Public Order and Traffic Division chief Wan Sharudddin Wan Omar said the accident occurred at 7.10am when a Toyota Corolla driven by Ahmad Saiful Ikram Abdul Rahman from Kedah to Mersing, Johor went out of control, skidded and grazed along the concrete highway divider.

“The car then skidded onto the left lane before crashing into the formaldehyde tanker traveling from Seberang Prai, Penang to Gebeng, Kuantan and a Proton Saga car,” he said in a statement here yesterday.

He said the driver and passengers of the Proton Saga car Ooi Ah Lak, 67, Ooi Boey Hong, 57, Looi Hooi Choan, 67, and Lim Phek Hua, 59, from Georgetown and Bukit Mertajam, Penang were sent to the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital here to be treated for minor injuries.

The tanker driver Yeoh Chon Eng, 48, from Bukit Mertajam, Penang was admitted for a shoulder injury while Ahmad Saiful Ikram of Baling, Kedah was not injured.

Meanwhile, Sumasivam said the road was opened to traffic at 3pm as soon as the Hazmat unit cleaned up the area.

“We managed to control the chemical leak easily as it’s water soluble. There’s no need to worry about any contamination. We used about 63,645.26 litres of water and foam as well to neutralise the area,” he said. — Bernama