Jaipur, Jan 3 : Over six vehicles, including a sleeper bus, collided in Rajasthan's Bhilwara on Friday due to dense fog leaving many people injured.

The vehicles collided on the Kothari River bridge along the Ajmer National Highway, trapping several people in their vehicles.

The situation escalated when a tanker carrying CNG started leaking, causing widespread panic. Police promptly arrived at the scene upon receiving information about the accident. Emergency services rushed the injured to nearby hospitals with the help of ambulances.

According to officials, the incident took place on the Kothari River culvert on the Ajmer National Highway in the morning. The dense fog severely reduced visibility, leading to the chain collision. Many people sustained injuries and were admitted to the nearby hospital for treatment.

The accident caused a massive traffic jam stretching about 1.5 kilometres on both sides of the highway. Long queues of vehicles formed, and commuters faced significant delays. It took considerable effort by the police to clear the congestion and restore normal traffic flow.

Around 9 a.m., with visibility drastically reduced, two trucks first collided on the culvert. Subsequently, multiple vehicles on both sides of the bridge became entangled in a series of collisions.

Amid the chaos, a CNG tanker also got stuck in the pile-up. A gas leak from the tanker heightened fears of a catastrophic explosion, reminiscent of the previous incidents like Bhankrota. People in the vicinity scrambled to safety, but fortunately, a major disaster was avoided.

The accident left several vehicles badly damaged, while many individuals sustained injuries. Authorities are continuing their investigation and relief efforts to ensure such incidents are minimized in the future.

On December 20, an LPG tanker collided with a truck, sparking a massive fireball that turned a stretch of the Jaipur-Ajmer highway into an inferno, engulfing more than 40 vehicles. Eleven persons died on the day of the incident and nine others lost their lives during treatment in subsequent days. The death toll in the inferno has risen to 20 and many other

/IANS