Gas bus fire - Stockholm

[MotCO]

Just seen this in the Daily Mail. Sounds horrendous.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...ight-restricted-bridge-piercing-gas-tank.html

Bus engulfed in flames after hitting height restricted bridge in Stockholm with the warning sign piercing a gas tank on the roof

A huge fireball engulfed a bus in Stockholm city centre after it crashed into the entrance to a tunnel this morning.

The vehicle was travelling towards a height restricted bridge when it crashed into warning barriers hanging from the top.

As the bus struck the heavy pontoons, it is thought the gas tank on the roof was pierced and caused an explosion.

The vehicle, which was thought to have not been in service at the time, became engulfed in flame, sending thick black smoke billowing into the air.

Emergency services were called at around 11.25am local time and rushed to the scene at the Klarat tunnel in the middle of busy Stockholm city centre.

The driver was injured and believed to be the only person on-board at the time.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Wow, that's very concerning. Wasn't the idea of having the tanks on the roof that if breached the gas would escape (or explode) upwards leaving the passengers shaken but unharmed? Clearly that failed in this instance.

 

[edwin_m]

This link says it was a natural gas bus so any leakage should rise, rather than LPG which would sink and is therefore considered more dangerous.
https://kristv.com/news/world-news/2019/03/10/natural-gas-powered-bus-explodes-in-sweden/

(NBC) – A bus exploded in Stockholm, Sweden Sunday rocking the center of the city.

The natural gas-powered bus went up in flames. Fortunately, there were no passengers on board.

The fire sent a plume of black smoke high into the air.

Stockholm police said the driver survived with severe burns.

No one else was known to have been injured.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Wow, that's very concerning. Wasn't the idea of having the tanks on the roof that if breached the gas would escape (or explode) upwards leaving the passengers shaken but unharmed? Clearly that failed in this instance.

There's a dashcam video doing the rounds on Twitter which shows that the tank wasn't simply punctured; it was completely disrupted almost instantly; the gas pressure forced it all around the area before it exploded.

Now while that is not the sort of impact the tank would have been designed to withstand, it does appear that it is a possibility that should have been considered given the frequency with which vehicles hit low structures.

Perhaps a reinforced sacrificial bar type structure at the front of gas vehicles, fitted way forwards of the tank, would prevent such an instance from happening again by bringing the vehicle to a stop before the low structure got near the tank?

Link to one of the tweets is below.

https://twitter.com/Crashingtv/status/1104867838324559872