AIZAWAL: The death toll in the oil tanker fire climbed to six after two injured persons died while undergoing treatment in Aizawl, police said on Thursday.
The oil tanker, carrying 22,000 litres of petrol, overturned on National Highway-6 at Turial near Aizawl around 3 pm on October 29.
It caught fire and exploded around 6 pm when locals and motorists passing by were collecting petrol leaking from the tanker.
Four people were killed on the spot, and 17 others were injured, police said. Aizawl district’s Superintendent of Police C Lalruaia said the two men, aged 41 and 37, succumbed to their injuries on Wednesday.
One of them was undergoing treatment at the Zoram Medical College (ZMC), and the other person was admitted at a private hospital in Aizawl.
The tanker was heading towards Champhai town in the northeastern part of Mizoram near the Myanmar border when the accident happened.
The driver of the tanker, who escaped after the accident, is yet to be arrested, the police officer said. Lalruaia said they were informed about the accident by officials in Assam around 4.30 pm on that day, and a police team was immediately rushed to the spot.
By the time the police reached the spot, the oil tanker had already caught fire, he said. Police suspect that someone had lit a cigarette near the leaking tanker, causing the fire.