The key facts
- A truck carrying 20 tonnes of fuel oil overturned into a ditch on the 385th kilometre of the R-239 highway near the settlement of Novozarechensk
- About three cubic metres of fuel oil spilled onto the ground through the deformed hatch of the tank
- The spill has been contained, there is no threat to water sources, and traffic on the highway is not obstructed
Accident on the R-239 highway
In the Bavly district of Tatarstan, on the 385th kilometre of the R-239 highway, near the settlement of Novozarechensk, a MAN tractor unit with a tank semi-trailer carrying 20 tonnes of fuel oil from Bashkortostan to Orenburg overturned into a roadside ditch. This was reported by the regional directorate of the Russian Emergencies Ministry, whose data was cited by Life.ru.
The leak and its containment
During the rollover, the tank's hatch was deformed, and fuel oil began leaking onto the ground through it. According to rescuers, the preliminary volume of the spill was about three cubic metres, while the tank itself was not damaged. The leak was stopped: an excavator was sent to the accident site, and specialists built an earthen berm around the contaminated area and contained the spill. The Emergencies Ministry specified that there is no threat of fuel oil entering water sources, no one was injured, and traffic on the highway is not obstructed.
What happens next and a similar case
The carrier will now have to arrange for the truck to be lifted back onto the road, as well as the collection and disposal of the soil soaked with fuel oil. It is worth noting that this is not the first such incident in the Volga region recently: earlier, the same outlet reported on an oil tanker truck carrying crude oil that overturned in the Koshki district of Samara Oblast on the Sergievsk — Chelno-Vershiny — Koshki highway; one person was injured in that accident, and rescuers also had to deal with a petroleum spill. Unlike that case, the accident in Tatarstan resulted in no injuries.
