---
title: "Three Dead, 60+ Injured After Tanker Truck Explosion Collapses Elevated Highway in Italy"
description: "A nightmarish scene unfolded on a raised highway in the northern Italian city of Bologna on Monday after a tanker truck carrying liquefied petroleum gas exploded in a massive fireball following a traffic accident, killing at least two people, injuring more than 60, and causing a section of the elevated structure to collapse, Reuters reports."
date: "2018-08-06"
modified: "2018-08-07"
authors:
  - name: "Kyle Cheromcha"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kyle-cheromcha"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/22668/three-dead-60-injured-after-tanker-truck-explosion-collapses-elevated-highway-in-italy"
categories:
  - "News"
  - "Trucks"
tags:
  - "explosion"
  - "fire"
  - "highway"
  - "Italy"
  - "road safety"
  - "Tanker"
---

# Three Dead, 60+ Injured After Tanker Truck Explosion Collapses Elevated Highway in Italy

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2018/08/dj7hk8hxgai_jov.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

A nightmarish scene unfolded on a raised highway in the Italian city of Bologna on Monday after a tanker truck carrying [liquefied petroleum gas](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/18535/watch-this-entire-highway-explode-after-a-car-drives-over-a-liquefied-petroleum-gas-spill>) exploded in a massive fireball following a traffic accident, killing at least three people, injuring more than 60, and causing a section of the elevated structure to collapse, according to multiple reports.

Local authorities say the tanker was driving on an 8-lane elevated span of Autostrada 14—Italy's second-longest highway, running the length of the Adriatic coast—when it rear-ended another large truck that was stopped in traffic. The crash sparked a fire, eventually causing the highly-pressurized tank to explode as first responders arrived to clear the scene. The blast was captured on a highway traffic camera. [Here's a link with fair warning:](<https://youtu.be/-0fu5L2jxOw>) even though you can't see it, this is a video during which *CNN* reports at least three people lost their lives.

https://twitter.com/_/status/1026471041252708353

[At least one witness](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvXcocHgeIg&feature=youtu.be>) also filmed the colossal blast from their car, showing dark plumes of black smoke suddenly give way to wall of fire so big it fills the entire frame. After a few seconds it lifts into a mushroom cloud, with the tanker still spewing flames like a giant torch. The clip ends with the camera holder wisely backing away.

https://twitter.com/_/status/1026500683447586816

The explosion sent a sizable chunk of the roadway surrounding the tank down onto a parking lot below the bridge, crushing numerous cars and causing at least ten others [to explode as well.](<https://www.ansa.it/english/news/2018/08/06/at-least-two-dead-60-injured-in-bologna-highway-blaze_576a87ae-b0cd-4b50-88ea-58c0af58efc4.html>) It reportedly took several hours for firefighters to extinguish the inferno; while some of the injured have severe burns, others were hit by flying glass when the initial shockwave broke nearby windows, [according to *Associated Press.*](<https://www.cbsnews.com/news/explosion-near-bologna-italy-airport-injures-dozens/>) The identities of the victims haven't been released.

![message-editor%2F1533581510850-ap\_18218578140953.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/message-editor/1533581510850-ap_18218578140953.jpg>)
**Associated Press**

The crater left by the blast bears an uncanny resemblance to that of a dropped bomb; though the surrounding structure held up, Italian authorities will begin the process of determining whether the bridge has been seriously compromised when the rescue operation is complete.

![message-editor%2F1533581541401-gettyimages-1012029200.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/message-editor/1533581541401-gettyimages-1012029200.jpg>)
**Getty Images**

## Author
Overseeing an expert staff of writers and editors from his lair in Los Angeles, Kyle shapes The Drive’s singular approach to covering the automotive industry and car culture. He’s been with the site as a writer since 2017, taking over as editor in 2019. On a daily basis, Kyle is responsible for directing The Drive's editorial news and car review content strategies, setting special coverage priorities, managing complex reporting projects, and ensuring what you read on the page meets our high internal standards for quality and trustworthiness. He is also the executive producer of The Drive's YouTube channel, which was relaunched in February 2024 to great acclaim and has accumulated over 14M new views in its first year back on the scene. He hosts a biweekly series on the channel where he breaks down fascinating and complicated stories from the automotive world.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/kylecheromcha.bsky.social>)  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/kylecheromcha>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-cheromcha-1550248a/>)