11 killed in Jaipur highway inferno

At least 11 persons were killed and 35 injured in a massive fireball triggered by an LPG tanker-truck collision on the Jaipur-Ajmer national highway early on Friday. As many as 37 vehicles were damaged in the inferno.

State Health Minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar said the condition of nearly half of the injured was “very critical”. Jaipur Police Commissioner Biju George Joseph said the blaze was caused by a gas leak after the outlet nozzle of the LPG tanker got damaged in the collision. “Vehicles behind the tanker were engulfed in flames. Other vehicles coming from the opposite direction too caught fire,” Joseph said.

The fire spread in a flash, leaving little time for those in nearby vehicles to escape. People were seen rushing and taking off clothes engulfed in flames.

“A total of 11 persons have died. Five were brought dead to Jaipur’s SMS hospital. Five succumbed during treatment. One death was reported from Jaipuria hospital,” Dr Deepak Maheshwari, principal, SMS Medical College, said. The injured were rushed to the hospital in Jaipur in more than 25 ambulances. “Forty-three persons were brought to the hospital, seven of whom are on ventilator support,” Dr Maheshwawri said. Officials indicated the casualty count might go up.

The Rajasthan Government announced an aid of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh for the injured.

President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Rajasthan Governor Haribhau Bagade, Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and his predecessor Ashok Gehlot expressed grief over the deaths.

In a post on X, Modi announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the PM’s National Relief Fund to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured.

People reported witnessing flames from nearly a kilometre away as thick smoke filled the sky, and ambulances and fire tenders rushed towards the scene. The crash affected a 300-metre stretch of the national highway, leading to a long queue of vehicles. The authorities were clearing the highway to restore traffic.

Thirty-seven vehicles, including several trailers, trucks and containers, buses, pickups, bikes and cars, were damaged in the blaze. A school van driver said the flames were visible from a kilometre away. “As I got closer to the spot, I saw people running in haste and shouting for help,” he said.