Driver hospitalised after overturned fuel truck explodes on trail

Jul 03, 2018 News

– Lethem runs low on gas

A driver is in a city hospital after a fuel truck exploded last week on the Linden/Lethem trail.
According to Lethem officials, on Tuesday last, between Mabura and the Kurupukari Crossing, the fuel truck belonging to the Takutu gas station, went on its side because of the deteriorating conditions of the trail.
The trail connects the coastland to Lethem, a town that borders with Brazil.
It was explained that the truck driver managed to make it to Lethem where another truck was sent to collect the fuel. There are conflicting reports of what happened next.
The fuel was being transferred when there was an explosion.

The Takutu gas station, Lethem, is out of fuel, officials said yesterday.

The driver, whose name was given as Imtiaz Alli, was badly burned.
He was brought to the Georgetown Public Hospital on Sunday morning from Linden.
There were unconfirmed reports that the fuel ignited as one worker was smoking.
Yesterday, an official from Takutu Holdings, which controls the Takutu Hotel and a gas station in Lethem, confirmed that an incident had occurred and that the driver was hospitalised.
The official said that management is out of contact with their staffers who are in the affected area.
The hinterland roads are facing some of its sternest tests to date with excessive rainfall preventing contractors from carrying out repairs and maintenance.
Government has said that it has awarded contracts to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars but it is taking a while for them to mobilise.
The trail has been facing the problems for years now with little resources, poor monitoring and overloaded trucks and heavy equipment damaging the trail.
Daily there are reports of bridges collapsing and vehicles stuck in the slush.
Yesterday, an official of the Takutu gas station said that they have run out of gas with little supplies left.
The trail is a main artery to several hinterland communities and the Rupununi savannahs.
The rains and condition on the trail, which is now being targetted to be paved by Government, have severely affected tourism in the Region Nine area, officials complained last week.

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