PADRE BURGOS, Quezon – A tanker loaded with gasoline exploded after it fell into a 10-foot ravine and burned a newly constructed house in a curved portion of the national highway in Barangay Burgos here yesterday.
Senior Insp. Reynaldo Belarmino, Padre Burgos police head, said the driver of the tanker, Rico Lara Reyes, married, 46, of Barangay Pansol, Padre Garcia, Batangas, was injured in the incident.
Belarmino said Reyes parked his truck on the descending portion of the road to fix a mechanical trouble when it accidentally rolled down and crashed to a roadside steel barrier.
The tanker with license plates TJZ-160 slammed into a tree, turned turtle, and exploded. Burning gasoline tricked down a nearby empty house owned by a bus inspector and ignited a fire.
The owners of the house were reportedly out of town when the incident happened.
Reyes suffered second degree burns and taken to the Quezon Medical Center in Lucena City.
The Burgos, Unisan, and Pagbilao fire departments joined hands to put out the fire. (DANNY J. ESTACIO)