At around 1:30 PM yesterday, a tanker truck fully-loaded with 49 tons of gasoline additive overturned and plunged into a 2-meter deep ditch along the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan highway, 24 kilometers from downtown Beijing. The accident resulted in a leak of all the chemical fuels and caused a 10-kilometer-long traffic jam and possible pollution to 80 mus (5.3 hectares) of vineyards beside the highway.

After five hours of emergency rescue, the leak was stopped and the area protected from possible explosion or fire; the truck has since been removed from the site.

The truck driver, surnamed Dou, suffered a broken bone in his left arm and was sent to the hospital by ambulance, where he arrived at about 4:00 PM. Dou said he was driving at a speed of 70 kilometers per hour (about 43 mph) when the truck was suddenly hit by a car, forcing him to turn right and veer off the highway.

An offensive strong odor could be smelled at the site, according to a Beijing Times reporter, who arrived shortly after the accident.

The fire brigade, 3 fire engines and 20 firefighters, arrived at the spot at 1:48 PM. The gas-masked firefighters sprayed water over the truck to dilute the chemical and then plugged the two round holes at the top of the truck, where the brownish-yellow liquids were leaking.

Traffic police temporarily closed the section of the highway for a cleanup, but this caused a 10-kilometer-long traffic jam on the highway. At around 6:30 PM, two cranes were employed to lift the tank and remove the truck.

Villagers who live nearly heard the news and rushed to the site. They were worried about whether the chemical will affect their vineyards, just ten meters away from the leakage site.

A member of the rescue staff at the site said that the chemical will penetrate underground and will definitely affect the crops or other farm produce that are planted nearby; furthermore, underground water may also be polluted. The severity of the pollution will only be known after further tests and investigation.

(China.org.cn by Zhang Yunxing, September 12, 2007)