Bhatkal, November 19: The vehicular traffic on the National Highway 66 was disrupted for more than four hours on Sunday after a coal-laden truck caught fire on the Arabail ghat.
This was the second such incident in the last fortnight. A truck carrying petroleum product was gutted in the same area a few days ago.
No one was injured in Sunday's incident. But the delay in the arrival of the fire engines reduced the truck to ashes.
According to Madhav Naik, president of the District Janashakthi Vedike, who was returning to Karwar from Hubli, the driver and cleaner of the truck fled the spot leaving the burning truck behind. The truck was proceeding to Mangalore from Hubli.
Since Yellapur, the nearby town, did not have a fire station, the personnel had to arrive from Sirsi, which was about 50 km from Arabail. Mr. Nayak said the police, who arrived from Yellapur, watched helplessly as they feared an explosion.
Mr. Nayak said he contacted the Superintendent of Police to clear the highway. By that time thousands of vehicles had lined up on both sides of the road.
Mr. Nayak demanded that a fire station be set up in Yellapur to avoid recurrence of such incidents.
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