Pune:
One person was charred to death and two others sustained serious burn injuries when a gas tanker caught fire after it was hit by a car at a petrol pump near Pune, police said today.
The propylene (inflammable) gas tanker had stopped last night for fuel refilling at the petrol pump at Varkutegaon near Indapur on the Pune-Solapur highway when a speeding car hit it from behind, Superintendent of Police (Pune Rural) Manoj Lohiya said.
This resulted in leakage and the tanker caught fire in which one person was charred to death. Two others sustained about 80 per cent burns and rushed to the Sassoon General hospital, the Superintendent of Police said.
The flames spread to the petrol pump which suffered major damages in the inferno. The fire, however, did not spread to the fuel storage tank there, police said. Some vehicles at the spot were also reduced to ashes.
Fire tenders from Baramati and Indapur were rushed to the spot to control the blaze.
The body was sent for postmortem, police added.