Man dies after fuel tank flies him off truck

A man dies after a tank full of fuel slides from the back of a dump truck and hit him when the vehicle climbs a hill on its way back to a logging camp on Choiseul.

The accident happened Monday last week, when the dump truck was carrying fuel to Gito logging camp.

Commissioner of Police Mostyn Mangau explained that the vehicle was carrying a fuel container at the back in the crater (dump box) but when it went up a hill, the chain tied to the fuel tank, snapped (broken) forcing it to slide and hit the man who was sitting at the back of the truck. As a result of hit, the man was forced off the back of the vehicle on to the road.

He said the victim, 39-year-old, sustained very serious injuries as a result of the accident. Mangau said the excessive weight of the fuel in the tank had caused serious injuries to the man.

Mangau said the workers tried to rush him to Gizo Hospital in the Western Province but he died shortly after the accident.

The truck was carrying fuel to be used by the loggers in-land.