The fire of a gas carrier with 7.2 tons of propane recalled the accident of 1999, which still causes horror

On August 17, 2023, the Athens-Korinthos highway was closed for more than eight hours due to an outbreak of a tanker carrying liquefied gas, which brought much suffering to thousands of drivers and passengers and recalled the terrible accident that occurred on May 1, 1999.

This accident is compared to such tragedies as in Tempi or Mati, and that is what made the authorities show such caution yesterday. Because in the event of a repetition, the tragedy would surpass all precedents.

The crash occurred at km 178 of the Athens-Lamia highway when traffic police stopped a tanker truck carrying propane as part of the enforcement of a “curfew” measure (restricting trucks on weekends) for trucks on two national road networks.

At the level of the Kamena-Vourla bypass road, 39-year-old Andreas Papakonstantinou stopped the tanker truck and got out of the car for a police check. But while he agrees to be tested, the tanker truck stops at a point where the chance of a traffic accident is dangerously high. A small truck transporting meat crashes into a tanker truck, and here the terrible begins. Because when a tank truck carrying liquefied gas is involved in an accident, it is difficult to avoid a tragedy.

Photos from the scene of the tragedy

In cases like propane, when there is intense pressure like that caused by a collision, we have the BLEVE phenomenon, which stands for Boiled Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion. Practically speaking, we are talking about the excess pressure of a gas in liquid form, which leads to a large-scale explosion.

In the case of the gas carrier in Kamena Vourla, in order to avoid fatalities, it was necessary to evacuate the surrounding vehicles within a radius of up to a kilometer. However, this was not possible as time had reached the point of no return. Despite the fact that the fire brigade arrived at the scene, despite the fact that the drivers of the two colliding vehicles were evacuated, what followed is beyond description.

Firefighter Sotiris Stamelos and senior firefighters Stathis Risopoulos, 41, and Nikos Nicolaou, 39, are doing their best with hoses to put out the fire, but it’s too late. The explosion throws firefighters 150 meters away and they are killed instantly. The driver of the tank truck, who was 200 meters away, is hit by a metal sheet from the explosion and dies. Kostas Mananas, 35, a meat truck driver, was torn to pieces and his body has never been found. His own story adds to the scale of the tragedy as he lost his younger brother in a car accident and his son Georgios suffered the same fate at the age of 27!

In addition to the dead, 14 people were seriously injured in the explosion and, fortunately, there were no other casualties, as the cabin of the tanker, which was thrown 700 meters, landed in the courtyard of a cafe closed on May Day.

Fragments of two vehicles were (claimed to be) found up to 1,000 meters away, and the tragedy is evidenced by the fact that a traffic officer, Athanasios Tzuvaras, who stopped the tanker, suffered a nervous breakdown and was taken to the hospital. Shortly thereafter, he said that “The tanker truck stopped behind the white line on the right lane, and the driver of the truck carrying the meat picked up breakneck speed and did not even have time to slow down.”

Monument erected at the site of the tragedy. The fire department remembers every April 30th to pay tribute to the three dead employees.

Faced with an unprecedented and extremely difficult situation, the police and fire department decided to close one of the country’s main roads, the Athens-Korinthos highway, to prevent the tragedy. The crisis began shortly after 12 noon when the fire brigade received information that a tanker carrying more than 7 tons of liquefied gas had caught fire at the height of Kakiya Skala. The alarm was immediately raised.

According to the information, both the responsible Minister of Civil Defense Yiannis Ikonou and the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis were informed from the first moment. The decisions that had to be made were carefully considered so as not to endanger human lives, and for this reason EL.AS. acted, guided by the sole and indisputable consideration of the safety of drivers and passengers of vehicles.

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Late on Thursday evening, while the operation lasted a full 7 hours, addressing citizens who were rightly outraged by the long hours of suffering, the competent authorities released a statement where they not only described the long hours of horror, but also noted that “the suffering, disappointment and indignation of drivers who find themselves in a difficult situation are absolutely understandable and command respect”:

“However, it should be understood that the competent authorities were called upon to deal with a complex and dangerous incident in conditions of very heavy traffic from the very first moment, while the critical process of removing combustible material was dynamic, and its implementation shifted in time several times during the day, starting from the time of the accident onwards.

The people who not only managed the situation, but also observed the events from the first moment and through the established operations center, explained that, despite the fact that the fire on the gas carrier was immediately extinguished, a leak of a cargo consisting of 7.2 tons of liquefied gas. For this reason, and also due to the dangerous nature of the situation, an action protocol was implemented, with the presence of a safety officer, to remove the dangerous goods, and a thermal imaging camera was used to constantly monitor the temperature.

The prosecutor’s office opened a criminal case against the driver of the gas carrier, media reported. The prosecutor also ordered an investigation into the owner (legal representative of the company) of the vehicle in order to establish his possible responsibility for the incident, to check whether the gas carrier was kept in proper condition, despite the fact that, although the vehicle had all the necessary certificates (CTEA, etc.) d.), however, the fire was caused by a mechanical failure.

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