Terrifying surveillance video captured the moment a gas tanker erupted into a massive fireball after crashing into a toll booth in India, killing five people and injuring several others.
The deadly crash happened during the early morning hours of June 26 at a toll plaza in Kaushambi, Uttar Pradesh.
Video from the scene showed the tanker speeding toward the checkpoint before slamming into a divider and suddenly coming to a stop. Thick smoke immediately began pouring from the vehicle and quickly spread across the sprawling toll plaza.
For nearly two minutes, an eerie cloud of white smoke drifted through the roughly 10-lane checkpoint as workers remained nearby.
Then, without warning, the tanker exploded.
A towering wall of flames swallowed the truck and a nearby toll building, lighting up the sky and turning the quiet morning into a scene of chaos.
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW:
The fireball was reportedly visible from more than a mile away.
Miraculously, no vehicles were passing through the checkpoint at the exact moment of the explosion, according to the footage.
The tanker had been traveling from Kanpur to Pratapgarh and was carrying liquefied petroleum gas. Authorities believe the highly flammable gas began leaking after the crash before suddenly igniting.
The driver, 40-year-old Dharmendra Dubey, and toll plaza employee Alok Singh were killed at the scene, NDTV reported.
Several other toll workers suffered serious injuries and were rushed to a nearby hospital. Three of them later died, bringing the death toll to five.
The devastating blast also destroyed 16 motorcycles and two parked cars.
Authorities are continuing to investigate the cause of the crash and the massive explosion.
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