A man was burnt to death Thursday night when a petroleum tanker, loaded with 10,000 litres of premium 87 gasoline, burst into flames after overturning along the Falmouth bypass in the vicinity of Martha Brae.
The deceased, who was a passenger in the ill-fated petrol tanker, has been identified as 29-year-old mechanic Leonard Stewart, also called ‘Hummer’, of Deeside in Trelawny, Jamaica.
The driver of the vehicle was rushed to the Falmouth Hospital then transferred to the Cornwall Regional Hospital where he was admitted in a stable condition.
The police reported that shortly after 11:00 Thursday night a Ford Sterling truck, registered CG 9967, was transporting petroleum from Kingston to Montego Bay, when one of the front tyres blew out, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle, which exploded after overturning.
The driver, who reportedly fell from the vehicle, failed in his attempt to remove his colleague who was pinned down in the cab of the truck due to the unbearable heat emitting from the fire which engulfed the entire vehicle.
Linton Gordon, acting divisional commander of the Falmouth Fire Department, said the fire was brought under control by 17 firefighters, using one unit each from Montego Bay Fire Brigade and the Falmouth Fire Brigade.
Gordon said the operation lasted for more than three hours, after which the badly burnt body of Stewart was removed from the truck by undertakers.
Residents, who live in close proximity to where the accident took place, told the Jamaica Observer that two loud explosions made them aware that something had gone wrong. The first blast was believed to be caused by the blowout of the truck’s tyre and the other whenthe vehicle went up in flames.
Up to early yesterday morning scores of onlookers were seen staring in amazement at the burnt-out truck cab strewn to one side of the road and the frame of what was left of the tanker lying across the road. A thin puff of smoke rose from the mangled wreckage.
Jamaica Observer
