Lorry carrying gas cylinders overturns in Santa Cruz

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A lorry carrying butane gas cylinders overturned on Wednesday at the junction of the TF-1 and TF-4 near Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
The fire brigade secured the road and found that several gas cylinders were leaking.
The closure of the main access road caused chaos on the roads whilst the emergency services attended to the two occupants.

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A lorry carrying butane gas cylinders overturned on Wednesday on the main access road to Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The Canary Islands emergency services had to treat the two occupants of the vehicle. The accident occurred at the junction of the TF-1 southern motorway with the TF-4, heading towards the capital of Tenerife.

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The Santa Cruz fire brigade was called out because, as well as the lorry, there were numerous gas cylinders lying on the carriageway. The emergency services secured and cleared the area so that a recovery vehicle could remove the lorry. In the process, they discovered that several gas cylinders were leaking.

Alongside the fire brigade, the Guardia Civil, the emergency services and the road maintenance department of the Tenerife Island Council were on the scene.

Tenerife: Busiest access route to Santa Cruz closed

The junction of the TF-1 and TF-4 is one of the main access routes to the island’s capital. Consequently, the traffic chaos following the accident was considerable. The latest traffic count by the Tenerife Island Council shows that, in July, an average of around 38,000 vehicles passed through the Vía de Penetración monitoring point each day.

Across all counting points on the island, the Island Council recorded an average of around 1.75 million vehicle movements per day during the same month. The proportion of heavy vehicles, which also includes gas-powered lorries, stood at 4.4 per cent.

Between January and August, 31 people lost their lives in road accidents in the Canary Islands. On Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, the authorities recorded 15 road deaths – one more than in the same period last year. On Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro, the Road Traffic Authority recorded 16 fatalities (more on this below).

The local police have so far been unable to provide any details regarding the severity of the injuries sustained by the two occupants of the gas lorry or the cause of the accident. According to the authorities, the investigation is ongoing.