Driver carrying acetylene tanks escapes probable death – more photos

KUCHING: A pickup driver was within seconds of probable death when the company vehicle he was driving burst into flames after an acetylene tank he was transporting exploded.

The unidentified man was travelling along Jalan Ang Cheng Ho around 11am when he noticed flames shooting out from one of the two tanks of acetylene – a flammable gas used mainly in welding – that he was carrying. On seeing this, he suddenly stopped in the middle of the road.

According to eyewitnesses, the driver dashed out of the vehicle and made it several feet away when the tank suddenly exploded and set the entire pickup truck on fire.

The driver, who was apparently not injured in the incident, subsequently left the scene on foot and did not return after that.

The blast – heard up to a kilometre away – ripped the pickup’s carriage and also shattered windows at nearby shop houses, resulting in one person sustaining minor cuts from glass shards.

A spokesperson from the Fire and Rescue Department said that personnel from the Padungan fire station, including a Hazardous Material (HAZMAT) team, were immediately dispatched to the scene following a distress call and managed to douse the blazing vehicle at 11.22am.

Members of the HAZMAT team then proceeded to stabilise the second acetylene tank, which did not explode but was found smouldering on the ground a few feet away, before moving it to a nearby river and releasing the flammable gas.

It is understood that the driver – from a local company – was transporting the tanks to a bridge construction site in the Ang Cheng Ho area when the incident happened.