COIMBATORE: One worker suffered a minor injury on his leg while two others escaped unhurt after an LPG cylinder that was placed on a mini truck exploded on the Salem-Sankagiri highway near Chinnappampatti on Thursday. The three workers were painting lane markers on the road.
The state highways department is laying a four-lane road from Omalur to Sankagiri and the workers were marking lanes in the completed stretch of the on Thursday evening. They used a LPG-fired burner that was fitted on a mini-truck to melt the paint when fire broke out from the cylinder valve.
A male worker who was in his thirties tried to douse the fire using water from the roadside, but before he could reach the vehicle, the cylinder exploded.
Fortunately, no vehicles crossed the spot at that time. The worker who tried to douse the fire sustained minor injury in his leg due to the cylinder explosion. CCTV footage of the incident went viral on Friday.
Konganapuram police registered a case and further investigation is on. Sankagiri DSP S Raja said a major accident was averted at the incident happened outside of the town.