Oil tanker topples, driver killed in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: A 25-year-old driver of an oil tanker died on the spot while the cleaner escaped with minor injuries when the vehicle toppled on the service road near the Outer Ring Road in Ramamurthynagar early Wednesday. Though there was an oil spill from the tanker, which was laden with petrol and diesel in its two chambers, at the accident spot there was no fire mishap, said the police.

The body of the deceased, identified as D.K. Shivakumar, 25, had to be extricated from the mangled remains of the oil tanker. He is a native of Pandavapura in Mandya, the police added.

According to the police, the accident happened around 1 a.m., when a passerby alerted the police control room. The jurisdictional traffic police  rushed to the spot.

The oil tanker, registration number KA-53-B 5819, was on its way to Tumakuru after being loaded with petrol and diesel at the Indian Oil Corporation storage facility in Devangundi.

When the oil tanker reached near the ASR Convention Hall on the Outer Ring Road in Ramamurthynagar, the driver lost control of the vehicle and hit the divider. It toppled onto the service road.

Shivakumar sustained fatal injuries as he got trapped in the mangled remains of the truck, while the cleaner managed to jump off the vehicle, police said. Shivakumar’s body was shifted to a government hospital for post-mortem.