Accordingly, at around 7:00 a.m. on April 1, a tanker truck carrying gasoline with license plate KB-59.xx was traveling on the Hanoi - Lao Cai expressway towards Hanoi. When it reached Y Can commune, Tran Yen district, Yen Bai province, it exploded, crashed into a guardrail and electric pole on the right side of the road.
After discovering the incident, local people and authorities took the bus attendant out before the tanker truck exploded and caught fire fiercely. The driver was still trapped in the cabin.
The fire spread to the road, with the grass next to it, paralyzing traffic for more than an hour (the afternoon of Lao Cai to Hanoi). Some houses next to the highway also had to cut the electric knife bridge due to concerns about the fire spreading.
Upon receiving the report, the Highway Traffic Control Patrol Team No. 1 (Traffic Police Department) was present, coordinating with the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police force, Yen Bai Provincial Police to mobilize 40 officers and soldiers along with 4 specialized fire trucks to the scene to extinguish the fire and ensure traffic was not congested.
According to the Traffic Police, the initial cause may have been that the tanker truck exploded with tires, causing a loss of control and crashed into the guardrail, then continued to crash into a handover point point pointing to the Noi Bai - Lao Cai Expressway, causing the vehicle to catch fire.
As a result, driver Nguyen Van L, born in 1979, died on the spot; Phung Van S (born in 1975) in Tam Nong, Phu Tho was injured and taken to Yen Bai General Hospital for emergency treatment.
A representative of the Noi Bai - Lao Cai Expressway Management Unit said that because the burned tanker truck was still on the surface of the Noi Bai - Lao Cai Expressway, the level of damage to infrastructure had not been assessed.
