Covered van overturns across road, locals gather to collect spilling diesel

A covered van overturned across the road on the western side of the Shubhullya bridge in Mirzapur upazila, Tangail.

After the accident, several local residents were seen collecting diesel leaking from the vehicle’s fuel tank using buckets, polythene bags and metal dishes.

Police and witnesses said that at around 7:30 am on Thursday, a covered van belonging to Sirajul Motors lost control and overturned across the road on the way to northern districts.

The front portion of the vehicle sustained severe damages as it mounted the road divider.

During the accident, the van’s fuel tank twisted and developed a hole on one side, causing diesel to spill onto the road. However, no casualties occurred. After the incident, the driver and his assistant fled the scene.

Following the accident, local residents gathered at the site. Among them, several individuals collected the diesel leaking from the tank using buckets, polythene and other containers.

Seeing the situation, Rubel Mia, a bus driver from Shubhullya village, quickly rushed to the spot.

He attempted to straighten the twisted portion of the fuel tank using an iron rod and later tried to stop the leakage by applying soap. He managed to achieve partial success in reducing the diesel spill.

The accident temporarily halted traffic movement on the Dhaka–Tangail Highway. Vehicles later began moving through the service lane; however, a traffic congestion stretching about two kilometres, from Shubhullya to Ichail, developed on the highway.

Gorai highway police station officer-in-charge Masud Khan said, “We are working to remove the accident-stricken covered van using a wrecker. Traffic movement will be normalised soon.”