Six-hour jam on Mumbai-Pune expressway after gas leak

A gas leak after a goods vehicle and a tanker collided led to a six-hour traffic jam on the Mumbai-Pune expressway, police said.

Police, however, managed to divert vehicular movement to the old highway.

According to traffic police officials, a collision, near the Khandala tunnel exit on the Pune end, was so powerful that the container started leaking and a heavy fog of gas spread out.

A gas leak after a goods vehicle and a tanker collided led to a six-hour traffic jam on the Mumbai-Pune expressway.u00a0Pic/Navnath Kaple

"We had stopped traffic from both directions on Mumbai-Pune expressway as the gas leakage continued for over an hour. It was likely to cause another serious accident and hence the traffic was stopped. It was later diverted to the old highway," a traffic police official said.

The Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) was also alerted in time and the electricity was shut down entirely in the area. Schools in Khandala around the accident site were also evacuated and kept shut following the gas leakage to avoid any untoward accident, the official said.u00a0