Two persons were killed and three others injured when a tanker lorry, loaded with ammonia gas, capsized on the road after hitting another lorry at Erinjipalam near Kozhikode on Thursday, police said. Heavy leak of gas was reported in the area following the accident and forced panic-stricken residents to move to far-off places, police said.

Meanwhile, the accident site had been cordoned off and masked fire force personnel were involved in diluting the gas.

Eyewitnesses said that the mishap occurred around 1 am and a heavy explosion was heard in the area resulting in the massive gas leak. People living in the vicinity of about 200 metres from the accident site were being evacuated to far-off places as a safety measure, city Mayor Thottathil Ravindran, who visited the spot along with the Police Commissioner Patjoshi, said.
The dead had been identified as driver and cleaner of one of the lorries, while the injured had been shifted to the Government Beach hospital, police said Bureau Report