Hyderabad, Nov 20 : A major disaster was averted as a private travel bus rammed into a chemical tanker in Telanganaâ??s Mahabubnagar district on Thursday.

Dense chemical fumes due to leakage of Hydrochloric Acid (HCL) from the tanker due to the collision triggered panic. The accident occurred on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru national highway (NH 44) near Macharam in Jadcherla mandal.

According to police, the sleeper bus belonging to Jagan Travels hit the tanker filled with acid from the rear, resulting in the leakage. Dense chemical fumes enveloped the area.

Panic gripped the passengers, who escaped to safety through the emergency exit.

A police officer said 30-40 passengers were travelling in the bus. No one was injured in the accident. The travel company arranged an alternate bus for the passengers

Fire engines rushed to the spot and poured water to control the fumes. The firefighting personnel later capped the leakage.

The tanker was coming to Hyderabad from Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh. The accident, which occurred around 6.30 a.m., led to a huge traffic jam near the Macharam Flyover.

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief as no one was harmed in the collision and the subsequent chemical leakage.

Telugu states have seen a series of accidents involving buses over the last month.

A head-on collision between an RTC bus and a tipper truck in Telanganaâ??s Rangareddy district claimed 19 lives on November 3. The speeding truck carrying construction material rammed into the bus, which was going to Hyderabad from Tandur. Several passengers were buried under the gravel.

Nineteen people were burnt to death when a private bus caught fire after running over a motorbike lying on the road after an accident near Kurnool town of Andhra Pradesh on October 24. The bus belonging to Vemuri Kaveri Travels was engulfed by flames after the motorbike got stuck under its belly. The spark and fuel leakage from the bike triggered the massive blaze.

A private travels bus overturned in Andhra Pradeshâ??s Eluru district on November 3, killing a man and injuring 10 others on the night of November 3. The accident occurred when the bus belonging to Bharati Travels, and coming to Hyderabad from Eluru, overturned while negotiating a turn at Jubilee Nagar.

One person was killed and eight others injured when a private travel bus rammed into a truck on November 4 in Andhra Pradeshâ??s Sri Sathya Sai district.

Two persons were killed and six others injured when an RTC bus rammed into a stationary truck in Telanganaâ??s Jangaon district on November 16.

/IANS