Oil truck blaze causes $87,500 damage to HCMC – Mekong Delta expressway

The five-ton truck burst a tire on a section of the expressway in Long An’s Tan An Town, causing it to scrape against street barriers, leading to the fire.

Driver Nguyen Cong Sang saw fire on the side of the vehicle at around 12:30 p.m. as he delivered oil barrels from Ho Chi Minh City to the Mekong Delta.

Sang stopped the truck and rushed out immediately.

A few minutes later, the fire grew bigger as oil spilled onto the street, and it spread along 100 meters of the highway, resulting in heavy traffic jams on the route from HCMC to Long An.

The fire damaged the road’s surface, trees and the barrier system. The total cost to fix the damage is estimated at VND2 billion ($87,500), Nguyen Van Thanh, head of the Road Administration No.4 under the Directorate for Roads of Vietnam, said Thursday.

The repair work is expected to be completed this weekend, he added.

The fire caused no death or injury, but burned down the entire truck.

HCMC – Trung Luong Expressway, the only high-speed road connecting the southern metropolis with the delta, has seen traffic increase by 30 percent and more than 200 accidents since toll collection stopped in January 2019.

The 62-kilometer, four-lane expressway allows vehicles to travel at a maximum speed of 100 kph.