An accident involving a gas tanker caused a traffic pile-up, stretching from the Churchill-Roosevelt and the Solomon Hochoy Highways junction to the Oropouche Junction, as the north and south-bound lanes of the Solomon Hochoy Highway were shutdown. The accident, which occurred shortly after noon near Gasparillo on the Solomon Hochoy Highway, left hundreds of motorists and commuters stranded in traffic that stretched for several miles and lasted for several hours. The situation got the attention of Works and Transport Minister, Jack Warner, who assessed the scene from a helicopter. Warner later ordered an additional 6.30 pm sailing by the water taxi to ease the situation. Tickets for the 4.30 pm sailing of the taxi from Port-of-Spain to San Fernando were sold out yesterday evening and only a few were left for the 5.45 pm sailing.
The additional sailing at 6.30 pm was an effort to alleviate the traffic congestion on the highway.
Warner urged motorists to use access roads at Carlsen Field, Couva and Freeport to get away from the congestion. Police said the tanker, owned by Ramdial Transport Services and contracted by National Petroleum (NP), was driven by Glenn Ramkhelawan, of Santa Cruz. The tanker, loaded with 36,000 litres of super unleaded gas, was on its way to make deliveries to several stations in San Fernando and Princes Town when it capsised on the south-bound lane of the highway. According to reports, a vehicle which also was proceeding south suddenly drove in front of the tanker. In an effort to avoid a collision, Ramkhelawan pulled to the right and lost control of the tanker which skidded off the wet road and onto the median.
The tanker turned on its side with gas leaking out. Another tanker from Ramdial Transport responded and attempted to transfer the fuel out of the leaking truck but with no success. Shortly after, a vacuum tanker arrived on the scene and began to transfer the fuel. Personnel at the scene said all health, safety and environment procedures were followed and the spill was eventually contained. Emergency personnel from the Fire and Police Services, as well NP health and safety officers, were on hand to deal with fuel containment issues. There were no reported injuries or loss of life. Fire officers from Divisional Headquarters in Mon Repos, as well as Savonetta and Chaguanas, responded with a Hazmat appliance and sprayed foam onto the road and median to stop gas fumes from spreading.
In addition, a backhoe from the Ministry of Works and Transport was brought in and a trench was dug to stem the flow of fuel. A contractor from Petrotrin siphoned approximately 40 barrels of gas out of the trench. Acting District Fire Officer Tajudeen told the T&T Guardian it was necessary to close the highway as the gas spillage posed a high risk to motorists. He added: “What we did was to blanket the entire area with a foam cover to ensure the mopping up operations were done safely. “The capacity of the tanker is 8,000 gallons and there are two vacuum trucks. “There is an attachment area where there is a residue of gas running out and also there were some contents in the tank.
Bearing the circumstances there was no alternative,” he said. Although the incident occurred on the highway, there was also a traffic pile-up on the Southern Main Road, stretching from San Fernando to Chaguanas. To add to the chaos, there were several minor accidents, including a five-vehicle smash-up on the highway near Couva. St Margaret’s Police confirmed there were only minor injuries. By 3.30 pm police had re-opened the shoulder of the south-bound lane of the highway but motorists on the north-bound lane remained in traffic gridlock for another hour.
