Santiago. The truck driver and the owner of a commercial establishment remain hospitalized in Santiago, suffering from burns caused by the fire in a cargo tanker carrying jet fuel.
The driver, identified as Carlos Batista García, is receiving treatment in an emergency unit at the Metropolitan Hospital of Santiago due to burns on his body. The other injured person is Fabio Pérez, father of the owner of a crafts business, who was affected by the accident.
Batista García’s family asked that this process be held in privacy.
The Scania vehicle, license plate L-372980, file F 001328, driven by Batista García and belonging to the company United Petroleum International, was transporting Jet A1 fuel for aircraft when it hit the power lines and caused the vehicle to catch fire.
The 12,000-gallon tanker left the Santo Domingo Refinery en route to Puerto Plata.
The accident occurred on the Duarte Highway, in the section belonging to the municipality of Puñal, and left three cars from a vehicle agency and two stores selling crafts and furniture in Bonagua, La Vega, affected.
The businesses affected by the fire are the La Económica furniture store and the La Esmeralda crafts store.
The report from the fire departments that worked to put out the fire states that the first report from the agency system was made at 3:59 p.m. on Tuesday. The Puñal firefighters left the station at 4:03 and arrived at the scene of the fire at 4:14.
The fire was extinguished at 9:20 p.m., almost five hours later, because most of the fire brigades that responded did not have the foam used to extinguish jet fuel. Cibao International Airport provided the foam.
