Three persons died on the spot and a fourth was seriously injured when an empty fuel tanker exploded while some welding work was being carried out on it in Vaishali district of Bihar on Wednesday, police said.
The incident took place near Godhiya Chowk under Goraul police station limits.
The deceased were identified as driver Ranjit Yadav (48), a resident of Daniyawan in rural Patna, helper Arjun Choudhary (40), a resident of Siwan, and the welder Wakil Shahni.
The injured man, Kaushal Kumar, is undergoing treatment at Hajipur sadar hospital where his condition said to be out of danger.
The explosion triggered panic in the area and disrupted vehicular traffic on the busy Vaishali-Patna-Muzaffarpur National Highway for three hours.
According to police the tanker was on way to Muzaffarpur from Hajipur after unloading the fuel when the cleaner noticed a leak in one of the valves of the tanker. They brought the tanker to the wielding shop to fix the leak. The explosion took place when Wakil Shahni started the work in the rear side of the tanker. The part of rear side blew off and fell far from the spot.
Vaishali superintendent of police (SP) Maneesh said a case has been registered and probe launched. “The cause of the explosion is yet to be ascertained. Preliminary investigations suggest that while doing the welding, the welder might not have taken proper precautions,” he said.
