Jaipur tanker fire: Death toll rises to 18; DNA profiling on for unidentified victim
The fatal accident took place when a truck collided with an LPG tanker while attempting a U-turn near Delhi Public School at 5.25am, triggering a fireball that engulfed 34 vehicles.
The death toll from last Friday’s tanker accident on the Jaipur-Ajmer highway rose to 18 on Wednesday after three more people succumbed to injuries at the Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital in Jaipur, the police said.
“The three people had more than 70% burn injuries...one of them was also on ventilator support. They passed away on Wednesday morning,” hospital superintendent Dr Sushil Bhati said.
Bhati added, “Five people were also discharged from the hospital till Wednesday. Currently, 13 patients are admitted in the hospital, with one on ventilator support. Four to five people are critical.”
The three latest casualties were identified as Vijendra Kumar (36), Vijita (23), and Vanshi Lal (35), the police confirmed.
“At least 18 people have been killed so far in the incident. Two people died during treatment yesterday. One person is yet to be identified. His DNA samples were collected, and profiling is underway as two families have claimed the body today morning,” DCP Amit Kumar Budaniya said.
Meanwhile, the police are struggling to identify one body which has not yet been claimed. “The remains of many bodies were beyond identification. DNA profiling is the only way for us now to identify them,” Bhankrota station house officer Manish Gupta said, adding, “Police have collected DNA samples from unidentified victims and sent them to the forensic laboratory. We were able to identify three such bodies while are still waiting for the fourth one.”
The fatal accident took place when a truck collided with an LPG tanker while attempting a U-turn near Delhi Public School at 5.25am, triggering a fireball that engulfed 34 vehicles. This included 10 containers, seven trailers, five trucks, eight four-wheelers, two pickup trucks, and two sleeper buses.
The driver of the LPG tanker appeared before police for questioning on Monday, confirming investigators’ suspicions that he had survived the blast and fled to Uttar Pradesh and contradicting earlier assumptions that he had perished in the inferno.
Driver Jaiveer, 40, a resident of Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, presented himself at Bhankrota police station after both the police and his employer contacted him late Sunday night.
“We cannot share further details about his background until the interrogation is over,” Budaniya, who is heading the Special Investigation Team (SIT), said. The officer noted that Jaiveer was among the nine drivers present at Friday’s accident who managed to escape.