Rajasthan tanker fire: Death toll rises to 19 as man succumbs to burns

The death toll in a tanker-fire incident in Rajasthan has gone up to 19 with another man succumbing to his severe burn injuries at the Sawai Man Singh (SMS) hospital here on Thursday.

SMS hospital superintendent Dr Sushil Bhati informed that one more death was recorded on Thursday, taking the total number of fatalities in the horrific incident to 19.

“Currently, 11 people are undergoing treatment at the hospital,” he said, adding that two or three of them are likely to be discharged on Thursday.

Lalaram (28), who died on Thursday, had 60-per cent burn injuries and was on a ventilator. Three more patients are on ventilator support.

The body has been shifted to the hospital’s mortuary for post-mortem.

Lalaram’s friend Ramavtar said the victim was a security guard in an IT company at the Mahindra SEZ. He was on his way to work on a motorcycle when he got trapped in the fire.

“He had a morning shift that day. He was a resident of Sanganer but had shifted to the Kanota area on the Agra highway sometime ago. He was on a motorcycle when the incident happened,” Ramavtar said.

The victim was unmarried.

Three people, who sustained injuries in the incident, died on Wednesday.

An LPG tanker collided with a truck on December 20, sparking a massive fireball that turned a stretch of the Jaipur-Ajmer highway into an inferno. Eleven people had died on the day of the incident and four had succumbed to their injuries subsequently.