Hyderabad: A tanker driver was burnt to death after a tanker carrying ethanol caught fire when it was hit by a lorry on National Highway 167 near Pilligundu in Hanwada mandal, Mahbubnagar district, about 110 km from Hyderabad, around midnight on Wednesday (November 26, 2025), reported The Hindu.
Mahbubnagar Superintendent of Police Janaki Dharavat said the lorry, which was transporting iron sheets, was travelling from Mahbubnagar towards Tandur when the crash took place. “Initial findings and accounts from other drivers indicate that the tanker was moving at high speed,” she said.
The lorry hit the left side of the tanker, which was headed towards Bengaluru. While passers-by managed to save the lorry driver, the tanker overturned and immediately caught fire. “The tanker, which seems to have been speeding, skidded nearly 100 metres after falling on the road, and flames erupted,” the SP said after inspecting the site.
Investigators suspect that sparks generated from the tanker scraping the road ignited the ethanol. The fire engulfed the entire vehicle within minutes. It took four fire tenders and several firefighters nearly three hours to bring the blaze under control.
