Crashed oil tanker fire destroys 2 houses

CHANTHABURI -- A fuel tanker operated by Thai Oil Plc ran off the road, overturned and went up in flames that spread and burned down two nearby houses in Khlung district on Monday morning.

The driver, Yingsak Chansuwan, was injured but survived, police said.

The accident occurred about 7am on the out-bound lanes of the Chanthaburi-Trat road at Moo 6 village in tambon Bo of Khlung district.

The truck, loaded with 50,000 litres of fuel, was destroyed. About 10 fire engines and crews from tambon Bo Municipality and nearby local administrations rushed to the scene to contain the fire with chemical foam, but were too late to stop the flames destroying two nearby houses .

Several electricity poles were brought down by the truck, causing a local power blackout.

The fire crews took about 30 minutes to control the flames.