Lorry carrying ammonia gas overturns at NKVE, gas leaks under control

The Fire and Rescue department from the SS2 Damansara Station managed to control the leakage of ammonia gas when a lorry carrying 95 gas cylinders overturned at KM19.7 of the New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE), near the northbound exit to Damansara here, on Thursday.

Head of Operations Mustada Silong said the department received a complaint about the incident at 2.50pm yesterday, and took about an hour to control the gas leak by closing the leaking pipeline.

"The leakage only involved one gas canister but firefighters had to spray mist on the road surface to clean up contaminated areas and to isolate the 95 gas canisters to ensure no leakage occurred while waiting for the gas supplier to collect the gas canisters," he told reporters when met at the scene.

He said in the event of excessive inhalation an individual can experience breathing difficulties, eye and skin irritation.

Mustada said the incident occurred when the lorry hit the rear of a car and overturned.

The lorry driver and another man, aged 30, who were slightly injured in the accident were sent to the Sungai Buloh Hospital.

He said traffic on the New Klang Valley Expressway, formerly congested due to the accident, returned to normal after the lorry was moved and no lanes were closed.

Earlier, the overturned lorry had caused a massive traffic congestion, stretching over 5km on Thursday. - BERNAMA