A tanker truck carrying an undisclosed amount of mazut collided with a truck carrying timber on the Poldokhtar-Khorramabad road in Lorestan Province, with the entire payload of the tanker ending up in Kashkan River, in a repeat of a similar incident a year ago.
“This is going to take a toll on the water, soil and aquatic ecosystems in the area,” Colonel Gholamhossein Qobadi, traffic police commander of Tang Tir District in Poldokhtar, told Mehr News Agency.
The driver of the tanker reportedly veered to the left driving straight into the oncoming traffic, which led to the accident. He is in critical condition.
Last May, a tanker truck carrying 24,000 liters of crude oil crashed on the same road sending 15,000 liters of oil into Kashkan River.
According to the news agency, these accidents are far from rare and happen more frequently than people care to admit. In addition to drivers’ carelessness, the narrow road and substandard trucks add to the likelihood of the mishaps.
Not only do such accidents threaten the environment, but have reportedly inflicted astronomical costs on the roadways, prompting local authorities to consider introducing road tolls for the tankers and other heavy vehicles.
