HYDROCARBON DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE OF PAKISTAN

(CNG OPERATIONS)

INSPECTION REPORT

(Prepared as Third Party Inspector under the rule 10 of CNG Rules 1992)
REPORT NO: DATED: TYPE OF INSPECTION:
HDIP-CNG-INSP(ACC)/0100/2011

INSPECTION DATE:
REGISTRATION NUMBER OF VEHICLE:

December 11, 2011 MNS 2571 Mini Truck & MNS 1213 Hiace Van Vehari Road, Chowk Maitla, Tehsil Mailsi, District Vehari

December 12, 2011 Accident Report

PLACE OF ACCIDENT:

Verbal Directives of Director General, Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan

SUMMARY OF INSPECTION The HDIP inspection wings engineer, Mr. Asim Riaz visited the subject site on at 1130 hrs on December 11, 2011, to enquire the possible causes of accident which took place at 0945 hrs on December 10, 2011. Based on the inspection of the site, statement of the witnesses, Police FIR, and review/examination of the debris of the vehicle, the report is given as under: 1. Accident Details:

HDIP Inspection team recorded the statement of eye witnesses Mr. Abdul Ghafar and Mr. Irshad Khan Kichi. According to their statements the brief summary of the accident is as under: The accident occurred at about 0945 hrs, on December 10, 2011 at Vehari Road, Chowk Maitla, Tehsil Mailsi, District Vehari. A mini diesel truck having registration no. MNS 2571 loaded with Ghee became out of control while overtaking an oil tanker truck due to over speeding. The mini truck collided with the public service commercial Toyota Hiace Van having registration no. MNS 1213. The Hiace van went off road and rolled over twice. High pressure gas started leaking from the fitting and valves which were damaged during the accident. According to Mr. Irshad Khan Kichi some packets of Ghee fell on Hiace van from mini truck which also rolled over in the accident. Most of the people including the Patrol police officers ran away from the site of the accident apprehending that the CNG cylinders installed in the van may explode. The front portion of the Hiace van was damaged and small fire broke out in the engine which was extinguished by the witnesses using water and soil.

18, H-9, Islamabad. TELEFAX No. 9257470 PH: 9257821-24, E-mail: hdipcng@apollo.net.pk

 There were 22 passengers inside the Hiace van. Eight (8) passengers including two (2) children two (2) women and four men were rescued and taken out of the Hiace van by the aforementioned witnesses along with two other men. According to Mr. Abdul Ghafar, he was trying to rescue 9th passenger who had come under a CNG cylinder. There was high pressure gas leakage from the broken valve of this cylinder. While he was pulling her out of the van, suddenly the fire broke out in the van in the form of massive fireball. The said passenger was burned alive and Mr. Abdul Ghafars face, chest and right hand were also burnt. Fourteen (14) passengers who were injured during the accident were burnt to death inside the Hiace van. The Hiace van kept burning for an hour or so. The Rescue teams arrived after 2 hours of the accident. The driver of the mini truck ran away from the site of the accident. 2. Police Report: The First Investigation Report (FIR) No. 421741-437 was registered at Tibah Sultanpur Police Station, on December 10, 2011. According to FIR, the driver of Mini Truck having registration no. MNS 2571was Mr. Muhammad Nawaz. The rescued injured passengers were shifted to THQ hospital, Tehsil Jahanian, District Khanewal. 3. Observations & Findings: The Hiace van was Dual Fuel vehicle converted to CNG and can be operated either on petrol or CNG. The site of the accident was a two-way road. The road was straight without any slope, narrowing or evident deficiency compared to other sections. According to witnesses the road condition was dry and visibility was good at the time of accident. CNG cylinders were installed under the passenger seats. Three cylinders detached from the fastening, cylinder valves were damaged and high pressure fitting were dislodged as the Hiace van collided and rolled over during the accident.

18, H-9, Islamabad. TELEFAX No. 9257470 PH: 9257821-24, E-mail: hdipcng@apollo.net.pk

 Four (4) CNG vehicle cylinders of approved brand were installed in the Hiace van. The specification of these cylinders are given as under: Serial No. 1 2 Cylinder Serial Number 110 434-X47 Date of Manufacturing Manufacturing Standard 04/2008 07/2006 NZS 5454 NZS 5454 Water Liter Capacity 49 47.3

Manufacturer
Everest Kanto Cylinder Ltd. Everest Kanto Cylinder Ltd.

Beijing Tianhai Industrial Co., (BTIC), China

Kioshi Compresion S.A. Argentina

DO 81132

04/2007

NZS 5454

50

301575

06/2008

NZS 5454

49

None of the CNG cylinder exploded in the Accident. The retesting of Everest Kanto Cylinder Ltd. CNG cylinder no. 434X47 was due on 07/2011. The cylinder was not retested. The initial fire broke out in Hiace van after the accident might have been due to following reasons. 1) Short circuiting of battery and electrical wiring, 2) Contact of fuel with hot surfaces i.e. engine, exhaust manifold, radiator etc 3) Ignition of fuel by sparking that produced during collision of vehicles as the Kinetic Energy of motion is converted into heat energy. Marking of the CNG kit was illegible as the Hiace van was completely burnt. Apparently it was approved brand Landi Renzo CNG kit. Excess Flow Valve (EFV) was not installed in any of the CNG cylinder. EFV is a mechanical safety device installed either inside or outside the cylinder valve or cylinder. Its function is to prevent the leakage of gas in event of high pressure pipe damage/failure or dislodging of fitting or leakage of gas due to any other reason in the CNG kit/system. The CNG cylinders remained inside the burning vehicle for an hour. The burning has made the cylinders are unfit for use as the cylinders were heat treated (i.e. surface annealing). HDIP team informed the vehicle owner and the officers of police station Thana Tibbah Sultan Pur about this fact. However, the vehicle owner and police officials refuse to hand over the CNG cylinders to HDIP team.

18, H-9, Islamabad. TELEFAX No. 9257470 PH: 9257821-24, E-mail: hdipcng@apollo.net.pk

4.

Conclusion: By reviewing the site of the accident, statement of the witnesses, Police FIR, and review/examination of the debris of the vehicle, it is concluded that: The main cause of accident was high speed driving, overtaking in a two-way road by Mr. Muhammad Nawaz, the driver of mini truck having registration no. MNS 257. The massive fire that broke out in Toyota Hiace Van having registration no. MNS 1213 due to leakage of gas which resulted in death of fourteen (14) people could have been reduced to great extent if CNG cylinders were properly mounted and Excess Flow Valves (EFV) were installed at each CNG cylinder.

Recommendations: 1. Excess Flow Valve (EFV) manufactured in accordance with the ISO 15500-14 specifications should be installed in all the public service commercial vehicle. 2. CNG cylinders must be properly mounted and fastened in the commercial vehicles, such that in the case of accident the cylinders are not detached from the fastening. 3. Motor Vehicle Examiner shall not issue fitness certificate to vehicles in which installation work of CNG kit and cylinder is not proper. OGRA and HDIP should conduct training course for Motor vehicle Examiners and prepare required pro-forma for checking of CNG vehicles. 4. The CNG cylinders installed in the Hiace van were exposed to fire for about an hour. These cylinders were heat treated and shall not be used in any vehicle till the requalification of the cylinders by OEM or by accredited Cylinder Testing Laboratory. 5. The people have developed apprehensions that CNG cylinders explode after accident due to many wrong reports of explosion of the CNG cylinders without any evidence by the electronic and print media. The people ran away from the site of the subject accident possibly due to these rumors. The public need to be aware that approved CNG cylinder hardly ever burst/exploded in any accident of NGV/Dual Fuel CNG converted vehicle.

18, H-9, Islamabad. TELEFAX No. 9257470 PH: 9257821-24, E-mail: hdipcng@apollo.net.pk

6. The volunteers especially Mr. Abdul Ghafar kept rescuing the passenger even his physical safety has been perilously exposed to danger in order to save the life of passengers in the Hiace van. Consequently, his face and right hand was burnt while rescuing, Government may consider awarding him Civil Gallantry Award in addition to immediate monetary reward for his extraordinary valor. Prepared by:

Engr. Asim Riaz (Research Engineer)

18, H-9, Islamabad. TELEFAX No. 9257470 PH: 9257821-24, E-mail: hdipcng@apollo.net.pk

18, H-9, Islamabad. TELEFAX No. 9257470 PH: 9257821-24, E-mail: hdipcng@apollo.net.pk