LAMPANG: An NGV-powered trailer truck got stuck in a low underpass on Friday night, causing natural gas to leak from seven tanks before authorities managed to move the vehicle following a delicate six-hour operation.
The gas leak caused panic among people near the scene of the incident in Hang Chat district but no injuries or other damage resulted.
Pol Capt Rungruanchai Uppakara, deputy investigation chief at Hang Chat police station, led rescue workers to the scene after being alerted at around 10pm Friday. They found the 18-wheel vehicle with a Saraburi licence plate stuck underneath the Lampang-Chiang Mai bridge. The truck, loaded with TPI cement, was powered by NGV.
Seven gas cylinders installed behind the cab were jammed against the ceiling of the underpass, which was 2.5 metres high. The truck was unable to move and some gas began to leak.
The hissing sound from the valves triggered panic among people and motorists nearby. They ran for their own safety for fear of an explosion.
Police quickly declared the underpass off-limits. A team from the Lampang disaster prevention and mitigation office and a lighting truck were deployed to the scene, which was dark.
The team took more than six hours to extricate the truck by emptying the seven cylinders and using blowers to disperse leaked gas from the area. The front tyres of the truck were deflated to lower its height so that it could be moved.
Driver Sattaya Pukonglee, 23, told police that he had been driving from Saraburi to deliver cement to Lamphun. When he arrived in Hang Chat, he saw another truck driven by a friend parked for repairs on the opposite site of the road. He said he was trying to make a U-turn via the underpass so that he could buy some food for his friend.
When he drove into the underpass, his truck became stuck, he said.
Police question the driver of a truck that was too high for the underpass he was attempting to use in Lampang. (Photo by Aswin Wongnorkaew)