Congestion as fuel tanker overturns
Motorists have endured severe congestion after a section of a major A road had to be closed following a serious accident.
An overturned fuel tanker and a subsequent fuel spillage meant the A14 in Cambridgeshire was closed in both directions between junction 21 at Brampton Hut west of Huntingdon and junction 13 at Thrapston east of Kettering.
There were long delays as diversions were put in place following the accident, which happened a little before 6.30am.
Cambridgeshire firefighters said a substance was leaking from the overturned tanker.
They found the driver was already out of his vehicle. He was taken to hospital but his injuries were not thought to be life-threatening.
Fire crews stopped the leaking liquid from entering drains. The Environment Agency were also at the scene.
Motorists were being advised to avoid the area.
The East of England Ambulance Service said it was called at 6.20am and sent seven ambulances including three from its specialist hazardous area response team. The tanker driver suffered a head injury, a spokesman said.
He added: "All emergency crews worked very well in difficult circumstances as potentially harmful chemicals were leaking from the tanker.
“Crews treated a man in his 40s with a non-serious head injury and transport him to Hinchingbrooke Hospital for further treatment.”
It actually shows how safe chemical road transport is and the procedures that follow an accident such as this.
Although the report said the tank is leaking, it has held the Ethanol inside the barrel, it is more likely a weeping manlid or a pressure vacuum valve that has allowed an escape.
You can immediately see that the product is a Flammable liquid and an Environmental hazard by the placards still in place. This allows the emergency services to get close enough to read out the HIN and the UN Number so they know exactly what they are dealing with. Fantastic if the driver is unconscious or missing. Even more fantastic is the fact that the same information would be immediately available in Russia Poland or maybe Zimbabwe
Squiddy:
They are saying fuel leaked from J13 to J21. Was that from the tanker that crashed or from the recovery vehicle?
what the [zb] why would recovery vehicle be leaking fuel dont talk so daft
The recovery vehicle that was used to decant the load from the tanker, not to tow the tanker.
So the tanker overturned, yet leaked fuel for scores of miles before doing so? J13 to J21 is a flippin long way. It just sounds like two seperate incidents. An overturned tanker would not spew its load for 8 junctions would it.
I was coming the other way as this happened not close enough 2 see what actually happened but close enough to see what looked like lights up in the air then nothing. I’ve looked on my road hawk and that shows noat… Looked bloody nasty I know that. The traffic q must only have been a few hundred yards long when I actually got next to it… Made me nervous for the rest of my trip that’s for sure! Just hope the driver is ok.
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/News/Fuel-spill-closes-A14-10012013.htm dd.
