A heavy exit from the road caused the death of the driver of a petrol tanker truck in the Bergeronnes sector on the north coast on Monday.
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The incident happened around 9 a.m. at kilometer 600 of Route 138, about 20 km northeast of Tadoussac.
For an unknown reason, the tank truck loaded with 60,000 liters of petrol skidded and landed upside down in a ditch.
“It was a very difficult operation because one of the fuel compartments was spilled. The situation was extremely dangerous,” explains Sûreté du Québec (SQ) spokesman Hugues Beaulieu.
Hydro-Québec was called to the scene to shut down power to the area and several homes in the area were evacuated due to the risk of explosion.
It was only around 8 p.m., when the ground was secured, that the rescuers were able to free the man’s body from the heavy weight.
The death of Martin Lavoie, a 51-year-old man from Jonquière, was sadly noted shortly thereafter.
“The circumstances of the accident are not yet clear, but the trucks are equipped with cameras and GPS. We risk having a good idea of what happened shortly,” says Mr Beaulieu.
The scene of the accident on Route 138 was only released again almost 24 hours later.