Gasoline tanker trailer explodes in subsea tunnel in Norway

The trailer of a gasoline tanker truck exploded after it came loose and crashed into the rock wall of a subsea tunnel in western Norway on Wednesday morning, causing huge smoke but no serious injury or death, local media reported.

No one was badly injured in the accident but six people were taken to hospital, VG newspaper quoted police as saying.

Emergency crews tending to the accident in the Skatestraum Tunnel in Bremanger municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, about 500 km northwest of Oslo, got out of the tunnel after it became clear that there was no one inside and it was at risk of collapse, according to VG.

Truck driver Tore Myrestrand told VG he heard a bang and saw his trailer with 16,500 liters of gasoline had detached and slammed into the wall when he drove in the tunnel, which is about 1,900 meters long and 91 meters below sea level at its deepest point.

Myrestrand said he stopped and noticed that gasoline was splashing out. He then made an emergency phone call to have the the tunnel shut down immediately and managed to get out of it.

Officials of the Norwegian Public Roads Administration said it could take many weeks to repair the damaged tunnel, which opened in July 2002, according to public broadcaster NRK. Enditem