1200 cubic meters of oil in 17 tanks burnt in yesterday's petroleum train fire near Aktau

Yesterday's petroleum train fire near Aktau in western Kazakhstan saw one man dead, one injured, 1200 cubic meters of oil from 17 train tanks spilled and burning, Tengrinews reports. The fire started after the train pulling 18 full petroleum tanks was derailed by a MAN oil tank truck of Emiroil company that drove into the train at the railway crossing for no obvious reason. According to Deputy Akim (Governor) of Mangistau Oblast Suyundik Akdashev 17 train tanks out of the 18 caught fire. Head of the Oblast's Ecology Department Yermek Omarov said at the briefing in Aktau on Saturday that there were 1200 cubic meters oil in the tanks pulled by the train. The oil spill covered 500 square meters. The scale of the environmental damage is being defined, he said. The assistant train driver died on the spot and the train driver was delivered to a hospital in a grave condition. Doctors say that the condition of the locomotive driver injured in the oil train fire is still grave, but stable, Interfax-Kazakhstan reports. The man has third-decree burns on 30 percent of his body, Director of Mangistau Oblast Hospital Nurlan Tlepov said at the briefing in Aktau on Saturday. First Deputy Akim (Governor) of Mangistau Oblast Suyundik Akdashev said that the family of the assistant locomotive driver who died in the fire would get a finical aid. There is no information about the whereabouts of the truck driver who derailed the train. According to the media reports, the MAN truck driver fled from the accident site.